Friends-
Later this week the Ohio fracking movement will be joining together for our
biggest show of force yet - and we don't want you to miss it.
Over a thousand people from dozens of states are converging on Columbus from
the 14th to the 17th to send a crystal clear message to Gov. Kasich: Don't
Frack Ohio!
On the 17th - that's Sunday - we'll be joined by Bill McKibben of 350.org
and Josh Fox, director of Gasland, for a big rally that will march to the
Statehouse and occupy the rotunda to send a message to the Governor and the
State Assembly that our state is not for sale to the oil and gas industry.
Kasich and the oil industry's paid for allies in the Assembly have passed
one of the worst fracking bills in the country and we need to show them that
there will be consequences.
Thursday through Saturday we'll be spending time together in Columbus
building the kind of movement we need to win, with trainings on non-violent
direct action, media strategy and how to mobilize your community for big
change.
If you haven't made plans yet to be there, take a few minutes now to plan a
trip to be there. If you can only be there for one day, be there on Sunday
for the rally, but if you can spare an extra day or two to join the
trainings, it's absolutely worth your time.
Click here to sign up and to get all the details:
http://www.dontfrackoh.org/sign-up
--350.org, NEOGAP and the supporters of Don't Frack Ohio
Gail Larson
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Here is what is happening in Broadview Heights OH
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Susan Fowler's Georgian colonial has been on the market for two-and-a-half years. The four-bedroom house sits on a wooded lot on a quiet cul-de-sac in Broadview Heights, where home values are among the highest in Cuyahoga County cities. Fowler's house lists at $250,999 -- knocked down from $389,000.
But with several oil and gas wells on land behind her property, she says potential buyers want no part of it. The closest well is 89 feet from her property line.
An oil and gas company cleared woods to drill a well behind the house in 2008. The next year brought two more wells. The family moved out during the drilling of the second well.
While there is much debate over whether oil and gas well drilling poses health risks, Fowler said her family experienced vomiting and headaches during the process.
They moved into an apartment, and a year later they left the area for good.
She was a design engineer at Ford. Her husband was an information technology director at Progressive Insurance. They moved to Portland, Ore.
"It's just been a brutal financial strain for us," Fowler said in an interview.
"You couldn't pay me to live in Ohio again," she said. "It was our dream home. Now it's a lovely home right on top of an industrial site. We feel like refugees from our city and our state."
Many Ohioans are just waking up to the fracking boom. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting natural gas hidden deep within shale formations. The boom is expected to create thousands of jobs and add billions to the state's economy.
Broadview Heights has had a head start on many communities when it comes to drilling. The suburb south of Cleveland has become home to more than 80 oil and gas wells -- by far the most in Cuyahoga County -- since a 2004 state law opened the floodgates to urban drilling. Broadview Heights also stands as an example of how drilling where people live can riddle a community with contention.
Tensions between residents and city officials, oil and gas well drillers and regulators have been roiling for several years, as bobbing pump jacks and oil storage tanks have taken up space in wooded lots and manicured neighborhoods.
Tish O'Dell is working to get a bill of rights passed that would protect future homeowners in Broadview Heights. Many residents are moving out because of the problems that fracking has caused in their health and finances.
"They are ruining my hometown," said Tish O'Dell, a Broadview Heights resident who co-founded a group called Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods. "You only have two options. You either let them keep destroying the community or you do something."
Cuyahoga County has been a hotbed of urban drilling since the state legislature passed a measure called House Bill 278. The law gave the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sole authority to regulate oil and gas wells, stripping local governments of any authority over placement or permitting of wells.
Nearly 400 new wells have been permitted in the county since passage of the state law, according data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The wells here don't involve horizontal drilling -- a larger-scale operation that has fueled the fracking boom. Horizontal drilling requires large rigs and lots of acreage to drill thousands of feet down, and then bore horizontal shafts extending up to nearly two miles.
While the fracking debate is often associated with horizonal drilling in non-urban areas, the proliferation of urban wells in Cuyahoga have raised similar concerns over health and environmental effects.
In Broadview Heights, O'Dell is among a small group of activists who have pressed city officials to take a stand.
The City Council is considering a so-called citizens bill of rights to halt drilling in residential areas and prohibit fracking in the city until the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rules on the safety of the practice.
But its chances of success are dubious. Vince Ruffa, the city law director, warned the council in May that the city is setting itself up to be sued.
"We don't have any authority to pass legislation to regulate drilling," he told the council.
The council in recent years passed two other measures calling for state curbs on residential drilling. But critics say city government has also been part of the problem.
Broadview Heights, like other suburbs, saw a new source of a revenue in oil and gas well leases on city property. Since House Bill 278, Broadview Heights has signed leases for 15 wells on city-owned land, which generated $163,000 in revenue for the suburb last year.
City leaders also came under criticism for granting a 13-acre right-of-way that allowed Cutter Oil Co. to drill on the property behind Susan Fowler's house. In addition, some residents were miffed that former council President Helen Dunlap signed a private oil and gas well lease in 2010, after she and council had called for a state moratorium on drilling in heavily populated areas.
Dunlap, who is now the City Council clerk, declined to comment on the deal, saying she would have to check the dates of the council action and her lease with Cutter Oil. She said the well is on a neighbor's property, and that she and her husband could possibly have been forced to participate anyway, under a mandatory pooling law.
The law says drillers can compel a landowner to lease mineral rights in order to achieve necessary acreage for a well, if enough neighbors want it. Twenty acres are required for the type of wells in Broadview Heights.
"We were right in the middle of the 20 acres they (Cutter) were putting together," Dunlap said.
Mayor Sam Alai says the city has fought Columbus on behalf his residents, including challenging mandatory pooling. The mayor said he finds it absurd that a city can require building permits for home improvements, but has no say on the placement of gas and oil wells.
"What do you do?" Alai said. "They want to drill, drill, drill. I wish they would change the regulations for urban areas."
Alai said he's concerned about the safety of having wells in residential neighborhoods, though he said the few accidents that have occurred were minor.
The EPA is working on this watershed restoration project, right next to fracking wells in Broadview Heights.
A well in neighboring North Royalton sprung an oil leak in 2011, spilling 200 gallons of crude into Chippewa Creek. North Royalton and Broadview Heights have also in recent years dealt with gas leaking into the air.
"There's no monitoring of any of these wells that are hundreds of feet from our homes," said Michelle Aini, who lives near the Broadview Heights well that spewed gas in 2011.
As part of the citizens' group with O'Dell, Aini has battled to halt drilling near houses and schools. The group cites harmful health effects from chemicals and gases.
The question of whether fracking -- which uses high-pressure water, sand and chemicals --is harmful to health and the environment is a controversial one. The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, said in April it will study whether fracking poses health risks.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Association, which represents the industry, did not respond to interview requests for this story.
O'Dell and Aini are regulars at City Council meetings, and they were also sued this year by a Brecksville energy company that claims the women made false statements that the company uses fracking water in its road deicer.
Despite the critics, Mayor Alai, who beat back an election challenge from O'Dell last year, says drilling would not have proliferated if residents didn't want it.
"You have all these residents cashing in on the gas and oil under their feet," he said. "You have hundreds if not thousands of people involved in gas wells in the city. You have a lot more residents involved with gas wells than against it."
One Broadview Road resident who signed on for a well and storage tank behind his brick ranch said some people complain about drilling because they aren't making as much as they anticipated. The man spoke with The Plain Dealer, but did not want to disclose his name because of tensions over wells in the city.
He and his neighbors pulled in $400 to $500 a month when the well started production a few years ago, but the amount has fallen, he said.
"I got what I wanted," he said. "I didn't sign up for the money, I did it for the free gas. I haven't had a gas bill in three years."
In some cases, the lure of royalty checks has frayed relationships between neighbors.
Louis Chodkiewicz said he had a falling out with his Wyatt Road neighbor, after being forced into a pool in 2007. He appealed to the state and lost. Wells have been drilled on three sides of his 720-foot-long property, which is filled with fruit and maple trees and rows of berry bushes.
"You don't know who your neighbor is any more," said Chodkiewicz, a real estate broker. "They tell you they're against it and the next thing you know they signed. I don't think it should be in a residential area. I don't want the money."
The scenario seems certain to play out in other areas, as companies are rushing in to acquire leases. Anti-fracking citizen groups are coalescing in areas such as Portage and Medina counties. Some 300 people showed up at a fracking forum in Medina Township earlier this year.
In Medina County, leases have been signed for more than 600 land parcels, according to the county auditor's office. Auditor Michael Kovack said he believes most were signed in the past year.
Hinckley Township Trustee Martha Catherwood says residents have been deluged with lease solicitations. Meanwhile, Hinckley is among five townships in Medina County where trustees have voted to ban drilling on township-owned property.
Catherwood said the biggest fear among residents is that fracking will taint their well water.
"We've had to tell them there's not much we can do" to control drilling. "You know what? That's just so lame," Catherwood said.
"Your neighbor has no say about it if you decide to do it. There's something fundamentally wrong with that."
But with several oil and gas wells on land behind her property, she says potential buyers want no part of it. The closest well is 89 feet from her property line.
An oil and gas company cleared woods to drill a well behind the house in 2008. The next year brought two more wells. The family moved out during the drilling of the second well.
While there is much debate over whether oil and gas well drilling poses health risks, Fowler said her family experienced vomiting and headaches during the process.
They moved into an apartment, and a year later they left the area for good.
She was a design engineer at Ford. Her husband was an information technology director at Progressive Insurance. They moved to Portland, Ore.
"It's just been a brutal financial strain for us," Fowler said in an interview.
"You couldn't pay me to live in Ohio again," she said. "It was our dream home. Now it's a lovely home right on top of an industrial site. We feel like refugees from our city and our state."
Many Ohioans are just waking up to the fracking boom. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting natural gas hidden deep within shale formations. The boom is expected to create thousands of jobs and add billions to the state's economy.
Broadview Heights has had a head start on many communities when it comes to drilling. The suburb south of Cleveland has become home to more than 80 oil and gas wells -- by far the most in Cuyahoga County -- since a 2004 state law opened the floodgates to urban drilling. Broadview Heights also stands as an example of how drilling where people live can riddle a community with contention.
Tensions between residents and city officials, oil and gas well drillers and regulators have been roiling for several years, as bobbing pump jacks and oil storage tanks have taken up space in wooded lots and manicured neighborhoods.
Tish O'Dell is working to get a bill of rights passed that would protect future homeowners in Broadview Heights. Many residents are moving out because of the problems that fracking has caused in their health and finances. Cuyahoga County has been a hotbed of urban drilling since the state legislature passed a measure called House Bill 278. The law gave the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sole authority to regulate oil and gas wells, stripping local governments of any authority over placement or permitting of wells.
Nearly 400 new wells have been permitted in the county since passage of the state law, according data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The wells here don't involve horizontal drilling -- a larger-scale operation that has fueled the fracking boom. Horizontal drilling requires large rigs and lots of acreage to drill thousands of feet down, and then bore horizontal shafts extending up to nearly two miles.
While the fracking debate is often associated with horizonal drilling in non-urban areas, the proliferation of urban wells in Cuyahoga have raised similar concerns over health and environmental effects.
In Broadview Heights, O'Dell is among a small group of activists who have pressed city officials to take a stand.
The City Council is considering a so-called citizens bill of rights to halt drilling in residential areas and prohibit fracking in the city until the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rules on the safety of the practice.
But its chances of success are dubious. Vince Ruffa, the city law director, warned the council in May that the city is setting itself up to be sued.
"We don't have any authority to pass legislation to regulate drilling," he told the council.
The council in recent years passed two other measures calling for state curbs on residential drilling. But critics say city government has also been part of the problem.
Broadview Heights, like other suburbs, saw a new source of a revenue in oil and gas well leases on city property. Since House Bill 278, Broadview Heights has signed leases for 15 wells on city-owned land, which generated $163,000 in revenue for the suburb last year.
City leaders also came under criticism for granting a 13-acre right-of-way that allowed Cutter Oil Co. to drill on the property behind Susan Fowler's house. In addition, some residents were miffed that former council President Helen Dunlap signed a private oil and gas well lease in 2010, after she and council had called for a state moratorium on drilling in heavily populated areas.
Dunlap, who is now the City Council clerk, declined to comment on the deal, saying she would have to check the dates of the council action and her lease with Cutter Oil. She said the well is on a neighbor's property, and that she and her husband could possibly have been forced to participate anyway, under a mandatory pooling law.
The law says drillers can compel a landowner to lease mineral rights in order to achieve necessary acreage for a well, if enough neighbors want it. Twenty acres are required for the type of wells in Broadview Heights.
"We were right in the middle of the 20 acres they (Cutter) were putting together," Dunlap said.
Mayor Sam Alai says the city has fought Columbus on behalf his residents, including challenging mandatory pooling. The mayor said he finds it absurd that a city can require building permits for home improvements, but has no say on the placement of gas and oil wells.
"What do you do?" Alai said. "They want to drill, drill, drill. I wish they would change the regulations for urban areas."
Alai said he's concerned about the safety of having wells in residential neighborhoods, though he said the few accidents that have occurred were minor.
The EPA is working on this watershed restoration project, right next to fracking wells in Broadview Heights."There's no monitoring of any of these wells that are hundreds of feet from our homes," said Michelle Aini, who lives near the Broadview Heights well that spewed gas in 2011.
As part of the citizens' group with O'Dell, Aini has battled to halt drilling near houses and schools. The group cites harmful health effects from chemicals and gases.
The question of whether fracking -- which uses high-pressure water, sand and chemicals --is harmful to health and the environment is a controversial one. The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, said in April it will study whether fracking poses health risks.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Association, which represents the industry, did not respond to interview requests for this story.
O'Dell and Aini are regulars at City Council meetings, and they were also sued this year by a Brecksville energy company that claims the women made false statements that the company uses fracking water in its road deicer.
Despite the critics, Mayor Alai, who beat back an election challenge from O'Dell last year, says drilling would not have proliferated if residents didn't want it.
"You have all these residents cashing in on the gas and oil under their feet," he said. "You have hundreds if not thousands of people involved in gas wells in the city. You have a lot more residents involved with gas wells than against it."
One Broadview Road resident who signed on for a well and storage tank behind his brick ranch said some people complain about drilling because they aren't making as much as they anticipated. The man spoke with The Plain Dealer, but did not want to disclose his name because of tensions over wells in the city.
He and his neighbors pulled in $400 to $500 a month when the well started production a few years ago, but the amount has fallen, he said.
"I got what I wanted," he said. "I didn't sign up for the money, I did it for the free gas. I haven't had a gas bill in three years."
In some cases, the lure of royalty checks has frayed relationships between neighbors.
Louis Chodkiewicz said he had a falling out with his Wyatt Road neighbor, after being forced into a pool in 2007. He appealed to the state and lost. Wells have been drilled on three sides of his 720-foot-long property, which is filled with fruit and maple trees and rows of berry bushes.
"You don't know who your neighbor is any more," said Chodkiewicz, a real estate broker. "They tell you they're against it and the next thing you know they signed. I don't think it should be in a residential area. I don't want the money."
The scenario seems certain to play out in other areas, as companies are rushing in to acquire leases. Anti-fracking citizen groups are coalescing in areas such as Portage and Medina counties. Some 300 people showed up at a fracking forum in Medina Township earlier this year.
In Medina County, leases have been signed for more than 600 land parcels, according to the county auditor's office. Auditor Michael Kovack said he believes most were signed in the past year.
Hinckley Township Trustee Martha Catherwood says residents have been deluged with lease solicitations. Meanwhile, Hinckley is among five townships in Medina County where trustees have voted to ban drilling on township-owned property.
Catherwood said the biggest fear among residents is that fracking will taint their well water.
"We've had to tell them there's not much we can do" to control drilling. "You know what? That's just so lame," Catherwood said.
"Your neighbor has no say about it if you decide to do it. There's something fundamentally wrong with that."
We may be next!
Read this - we're next .
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12106895-oil-boom-brings-wealth-and-waste-to-north-dakota?lite
K. Flora
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12106895-oil-boom-brings-wealth-and-waste-to-north-dakota?lite
K. Flora
June 17th. Sign up to join the movement!
Friends-
On June 17th Ohio will be at the epicenter of another earthquake - this
time, a people-powered quake that will shake the oil and gas industry. The
earthquake is an action called Don't Frack Ohio, and we're planning to take
over the Ohio statehouse and pass a people's bill to protect our state from
the oil and gas industry.
Already over 1000 people are signed up to be there from states all across
the country, and we'll be joined by Bill McKibben of 350.org and Josh Fox,
the director of Gasland. Gov. Kasich and the State Assembly just passed one
of the worst fracking bills in the country, and we need to show them that
there will consequences for selling out our state.
The oil and gas industry put millions of dollars into the pockets of
politicians to make this bill happen. We don't have that kind of money, so
we need to use people power to show them our state is not for sale.
The action is on the 17th, but there are big plans for the 14th-16th as
well. That's when we'll be meeting up for a series of trainings and strategy
sessions to plan and build the movement we need to stop the fracking
industry in Ohio. We'll be getting trainings in non-violent direct action,
media strategy and skills, and how to mobilize our communities to win this
fight.
We're really hoping you can join us for this exciting event. With the drills
on their way to turn Ohio into the fracking capital of the midwest, time is
of the essence, and this is a perfect opportunity to tell Gov. Kasich that
we won't accept his style of sellouts any longer.
Click here to sign up for the action: http://www.dontfrackoh.org/sign-up
See you in Columbus soon,
-350.org, NEOGAP and the supporters of Don't Frack Ohio
On June 17th Ohio will be at the epicenter of another earthquake - this
time, a people-powered quake that will shake the oil and gas industry. The
earthquake is an action called Don't Frack Ohio, and we're planning to take
over the Ohio statehouse and pass a people's bill to protect our state from
the oil and gas industry.
Already over 1000 people are signed up to be there from states all across
the country, and we'll be joined by Bill McKibben of 350.org and Josh Fox,
the director of Gasland. Gov. Kasich and the State Assembly just passed one
of the worst fracking bills in the country, and we need to show them that
there will consequences for selling out our state.
The oil and gas industry put millions of dollars into the pockets of
politicians to make this bill happen. We don't have that kind of money, so
we need to use people power to show them our state is not for sale.
The action is on the 17th, but there are big plans for the 14th-16th as
well. That's when we'll be meeting up for a series of trainings and strategy
sessions to plan and build the movement we need to stop the fracking
industry in Ohio. We'll be getting trainings in non-violent direct action,
media strategy and skills, and how to mobilize our communities to win this
fight.
We're really hoping you can join us for this exciting event. With the drills
on their way to turn Ohio into the fracking capital of the midwest, time is
of the essence, and this is a perfect opportunity to tell Gov. Kasich that
we won't accept his style of sellouts any longer.
Click here to sign up for the action: http://www.dontfrackoh.org/sign-up
See you in Columbus soon,
-350.org, NEOGAP and the supporters of Don't Frack Ohio
Friday, June 8, 2012
Time is now to get involved!
To my Ashtabula neighbors:
Harmon and Sandy have passed on a very urgent request(forwarded email below) for us to show up in Columbus this weekend to let Governor Kasich and the entire State House and Senate know that they must hold the gas industry accountable and the government must carefully monitor any and all activity the gas industry brings to our state; from taking our fresh water resources to threatening our water and air to extracting the gas and then leaving our county economy dry to the greed and misrepresentation of the hydrofracking process and on and on.
Please go to Columbus!
Thank you,
Gail Larson
Rock Creek, Ohio
Friends -
In about 10 days we'll be gathering in Columbus for a giant rally against fracking in Ohio. Today we found out that big oil will be there to greet us.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas lobby in America, already has an event planned on Saturday in Columbus meant to smear Josh Fox and Bill McKibben, and no doubt that industry will turn out in a big way for our rally too.
This makes our organizing over the next 10 days even more important. If the media sees a small anti-fracking rally met by a bigger pro-fracking action on the 17th… well, the implications should be obvious. Forgive the tired expression, but we have to go big or go home.
We can't let Gov. Kasich and the oil industry's paid representatives in government take cover behind an astroturf campaign by big oil. Our movement is better organized to exercise people power than big oil and gas. The first step to beating the industry is to make sure that all of y'all make it out to the action - the movement is counting on you.
The next step is to bring your friends, family and allies with you when you come. We need to get the word out that big oil is rallying against us - can you share this news with your social networks now?
Thanks to you, the gas industry knows that there is a grassroots movement rising to stop them. That's progress, but it also means we have a lot more work to do. I'm very grateful to be a part of this growing movement.
-Duncan
Harmon and Sandy have passed on a very urgent request(forwarded email below) for us to show up in Columbus this weekend to let Governor Kasich and the entire State House and Senate know that they must hold the gas industry accountable and the government must carefully monitor any and all activity the gas industry brings to our state; from taking our fresh water resources to threatening our water and air to extracting the gas and then leaving our county economy dry to the greed and misrepresentation of the hydrofracking process and on and on.
Please go to Columbus!
Thank you,
Gail Larson
Rock Creek, Ohio
Friends -
In about 10 days we'll be gathering in Columbus for a giant rally against fracking in Ohio. Today we found out that big oil will be there to greet us.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas lobby in America, already has an event planned on Saturday in Columbus meant to smear Josh Fox and Bill McKibben, and no doubt that industry will turn out in a big way for our rally too.
This makes our organizing over the next 10 days even more important. If the media sees a small anti-fracking rally met by a bigger pro-fracking action on the 17th… well, the implications should be obvious. Forgive the tired expression, but we have to go big or go home.
We can't let Gov. Kasich and the oil industry's paid representatives in government take cover behind an astroturf campaign by big oil. Our movement is better organized to exercise people power than big oil and gas. The first step to beating the industry is to make sure that all of y'all make it out to the action - the movement is counting on you.
The next step is to bring your friends, family and allies with you when you come. We need to get the word out that big oil is rallying against us - can you share this news with your social networks now?
Thanks to you, the gas industry knows that there is a grassroots movement rising to stop them. That's progress, but it also means we have a lot more work to do. I'm very grateful to be a part of this growing movement.
-Duncan
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
June 17th, State House in Columbus for antifrack action
Friends-
On June 17th Ohio will be at the epicenter of another earthquake - this
time, a people-powered quake that will shake the oil and gas industry. The
earthquake is an action called Don't Frack Ohio, and we're planning to take
over the Ohio statehouse and pass a people's bill to protect our state from
the oil and gas industry.
Already over 1000 people are signed up to be there from states all across
the country, and we'll be joined by Bill McKibben of 350.org and Josh Fox,
the director of Gasland. Gov. Kasich and the State Assembly just passed one
of the worst fracking bills in the country, and we need to show them that
there will consequences for selling out our state.
The oil and gas industry put millions of dollars into the pockets of
politicians to make this bill happen. We don't have that kind of money, so
we need to use people power to show them our state is not for sale.
The action is on the 17th, but there are big plans for the 14th-16th as
well. That's when we'll be meeting up for a series of trainings and strategy
sessions to plan and build the movement we need to stop the fracking
industry in Ohio. We'll be getting trainings in non-violent direct action,
media strategy and skills, and how to mobilize our communities to win this
fight.
We're really hoping you can join us for this exciting event. With the drills
on their way to turn Ohio into the fracking capital of the midwest, time is
of the essence, and this is a perfect opportunity to tell Gov. Kasich that
we won't accept his style of sellouts any longer.
Click here to sign up for the action: http://www.dontfrackoh.org/sign-up
See you in Columbus soon,
-350.org, NEOGAP and the supporters of Don't Frack Ohio
Submited by Gail Larson, Trumbull Township
On June 17th Ohio will be at the epicenter of another earthquake - this
time, a people-powered quake that will shake the oil and gas industry. The
earthquake is an action called Don't Frack Ohio, and we're planning to take
over the Ohio statehouse and pass a people's bill to protect our state from
the oil and gas industry.
Already over 1000 people are signed up to be there from states all across
the country, and we'll be joined by Bill McKibben of 350.org and Josh Fox,
the director of Gasland. Gov. Kasich and the State Assembly just passed one
of the worst fracking bills in the country, and we need to show them that
there will consequences for selling out our state.
The oil and gas industry put millions of dollars into the pockets of
politicians to make this bill happen. We don't have that kind of money, so
we need to use people power to show them our state is not for sale.
The action is on the 17th, but there are big plans for the 14th-16th as
well. That's when we'll be meeting up for a series of trainings and strategy
sessions to plan and build the movement we need to stop the fracking
industry in Ohio. We'll be getting trainings in non-violent direct action,
media strategy and skills, and how to mobilize our communities to win this
fight.
We're really hoping you can join us for this exciting event. With the drills
on their way to turn Ohio into the fracking capital of the midwest, time is
of the essence, and this is a perfect opportunity to tell Gov. Kasich that
we won't accept his style of sellouts any longer.
Click here to sign up for the action: http://www.dontfrackoh.org/sign-up
See you in Columbus soon,
-350.org, NEOGAP and the supporters of Don't Frack Ohio
Submited by Gail Larson, Trumbull Township
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
New Standard for Lake Erie Water Withdrawl
Gov. John Kasich signed into law new standards for withdrawing water from
Lake Erie yesterday, about 10 months after vetoing regulations that he didn’t
think were strong enough.
Some argue that this revision isn’t strong enough, either.
House Bill 473 is designed to bring Ohio into compliance with the 2005 Great Lakes Compact, an agreement signed by Ohio, seven other states and two Canadian provinces and ratified by Congress to protect the Great Lakes from excessive water use in their basin, and to prohibit withdrawals outside the basin.
The new Ohio law allows companies and farms to withdraw 2.5 million gallons of water per day, averaged over 90 days, without a permit. It allows for 1 million gallons a day from rivers and streams feeding the lake, and 100,000 gallons a day from “high quality” streams.
The bill that Kasich vetoed in July would have allowed 5 million gallons to be withdrawn from Lake Erie without a permit.
When the legislature passed the revised bill in May, Kasich said that legislators, local officials, businesses and environmental advocates had crafted a bill that “provides strong protections for Lake Erie and its watershed. It meets federal obligations and supports Ohio’s need to boost job creation.”
The bill was among five signed by Kasich yesterday, including one that would eliminate Ohio’s cap on credit-card interest rates for in-state banks. Supporters argued that Ohio’s current 25-percent rate cap was “phantom protection” because the vast majority of credit card issuers are based outside Ohio and could ignore it.
Backers say the law removes a disadvantage that Ohio has with other states, 31 of which have passed similar laws. Central Ohio has 69,000 financial-services industry jobs, and some people hope that the law change could attract more, or at least stop financial-industry jobs from leaving. Huntington Bancshares supports the law and quietly suggested to lawmakers that it could help the bank decide where to place a new credit-card line that it hopes to start in mid-2013.
The Lake Erie bill was widely considered to be a significant improvement over the one Kasich vetoed last year. But groups including environmentalists and fishermen say it remains flawed.
Democrats, many of whom opposed the bill, tried unsuccessfully to make it more restrictive by reducing from 90 days to 60 the period of average daily water use considered in calculating whether a permit would be required. Critics have argued that the 90-day average could allow water users to make huge withdrawals over a few days.
“Unfortunately, mining, drilling, and bottling companies have undermined the interests of millions of anglers and boaters and the countless fish and wildlife that depend on a healthy Lake Erie,” said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean-water programs at the Ohio Environmental Council.
Critics also do no like that the law will not allow those with a recreational interest in the lake to appeal a water-withdrawal decision.
“The sportsmen of Ohio have a fundamental right to challenge a water use if it would impair our ability to enjoy the natural resources held in trust for all Ohioans,” said Rick Graham, president of the Izaak Walton League of America, Buckeye All State Chapter.
Former Govs. George V. Voinovich and Bob Taft expressed support for a shorter period of 30 days to calculate average water use, and they also called it a “troubling precedent” to eliminate appeal rights for those who use the lake for recreation.
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, a Napoleon Republican, has said the bill “clearly strikes the right balance between protecting high-quality waters and ensuring our businesses can continue to create high-paying jobs.” As bill sponsor, he has drawn criticism for also owning a water-bottling company.
Kasich also signed a bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, that will require used-car dealers who are new to the industry to complete a $99 training course. Developed by the Motor Vehicle Dealers Board, the course will last at least six hours and focus on the regulations they must follow.
In 2011, about 5,100 consumer complaints involving “motorized vehicles” were filed with the Ohio attorney general’s office, ranking the category first. It includes complaints about gasoline, rentals, sales of new and used vehicles and repairs.
Some argue that this revision isn’t strong enough, either.
House Bill 473 is designed to bring Ohio into compliance with the 2005 Great Lakes Compact, an agreement signed by Ohio, seven other states and two Canadian provinces and ratified by Congress to protect the Great Lakes from excessive water use in their basin, and to prohibit withdrawals outside the basin.
The new Ohio law allows companies and farms to withdraw 2.5 million gallons of water per day, averaged over 90 days, without a permit. It allows for 1 million gallons a day from rivers and streams feeding the lake, and 100,000 gallons a day from “high quality” streams.
The bill that Kasich vetoed in July would have allowed 5 million gallons to be withdrawn from Lake Erie without a permit.
When the legislature passed the revised bill in May, Kasich said that legislators, local officials, businesses and environmental advocates had crafted a bill that “provides strong protections for Lake Erie and its watershed. It meets federal obligations and supports Ohio’s need to boost job creation.”
The bill was among five signed by Kasich yesterday, including one that would eliminate Ohio’s cap on credit-card interest rates for in-state banks. Supporters argued that Ohio’s current 25-percent rate cap was “phantom protection” because the vast majority of credit card issuers are based outside Ohio and could ignore it.
Backers say the law removes a disadvantage that Ohio has with other states, 31 of which have passed similar laws. Central Ohio has 69,000 financial-services industry jobs, and some people hope that the law change could attract more, or at least stop financial-industry jobs from leaving. Huntington Bancshares supports the law and quietly suggested to lawmakers that it could help the bank decide where to place a new credit-card line that it hopes to start in mid-2013.
The Lake Erie bill was widely considered to be a significant improvement over the one Kasich vetoed last year. But groups including environmentalists and fishermen say it remains flawed.
Democrats, many of whom opposed the bill, tried unsuccessfully to make it more restrictive by reducing from 90 days to 60 the period of average daily water use considered in calculating whether a permit would be required. Critics have argued that the 90-day average could allow water users to make huge withdrawals over a few days.
“Unfortunately, mining, drilling, and bottling companies have undermined the interests of millions of anglers and boaters and the countless fish and wildlife that depend on a healthy Lake Erie,” said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean-water programs at the Ohio Environmental Council.
Critics also do no like that the law will not allow those with a recreational interest in the lake to appeal a water-withdrawal decision.
“The sportsmen of Ohio have a fundamental right to challenge a water use if it would impair our ability to enjoy the natural resources held in trust for all Ohioans,” said Rick Graham, president of the Izaak Walton League of America, Buckeye All State Chapter.
Former Govs. George V. Voinovich and Bob Taft expressed support for a shorter period of 30 days to calculate average water use, and they also called it a “troubling precedent” to eliminate appeal rights for those who use the lake for recreation.
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, a Napoleon Republican, has said the bill “clearly strikes the right balance between protecting high-quality waters and ensuring our businesses can continue to create high-paying jobs.” As bill sponsor, he has drawn criticism for also owning a water-bottling company.
Kasich also signed a bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, that will require used-car dealers who are new to the industry to complete a $99 training course. Developed by the Motor Vehicle Dealers Board, the course will last at least six hours and focus on the regulations they must follow.
In 2011, about 5,100 consumer complaints involving “motorized vehicles” were filed with the Ohio attorney general’s office, ranking the category first. It includes complaints about gasoline, rentals, sales of new and used vehicles and repairs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)