Three years ago, Governor John Kasich signed legislation that opened Ohio's state parks to hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking. The legislation was opposed by Democrats and environmentalists. At the time, Mr. Kasich and Ohio Republican legislators said there were no plans to begin the practice immediately and they assured the opposition that there would be intense study before any permits were issued.
A year and a half ago, apparently with no actual studies having been completed, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which is charged with regulating the state's oil and gas industry, designed an aggressive ad campaign to promote the practice of fracking.
Recently, the Democratic caucus in Columbus opened an investigation into that marketing campaign. The day after the investigation was announced, Bob Nichols, spokesman for Mr. Kasich, told the Columbus Dispatch that the Governor no longer supports fracking in state parks and hasn't supported it for a year and a half.
So, a year and a half ago, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources designed an ad campaign supporting the safety of fracking, which, according to Mr. Nichols, exactly coincides with the Governor's change of heart over the practice on public lands.
The coincidental timeline is questionable, but not necessarily worthy of an official investigation. But, here is where it moves past "questionable": Just two weeks ago, the Governor was claiming that neither he nor his staff knew anything about the Department of Natural Resources campaign, which has yet to be made public. Then e-mails began to emerge that showed, not only did the Governor and his top staff know about the campaign, senior members of the Governor's staff were present at meetings between the Department of Natural Resources and leaders of the oil and gas industry in Ohio when the ad campaign was designed.
There is nothing wrong with the Governor signing legally passed legislation into law. There is, however, something wrong with a state agency that is charged with regulating an industry meeting with executives of that same industry in order to plan a campaign promoting the industry's business plans. And there is something very wrong with the Governor lying about it.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is not a state that comes to mind when you think of earthquakes. As a matter of fact, between 1990 and 2008, Oklahoma never registered more than eleven earthquakes per year that registered over 2.0 on the Richter scale.
In 2013, the state began issuing permits to the gas and oil industry to allow fracking. That year, Oklahoma recorded 291 earthquakes of 2.0 intensity or higher. This year, there have been 250 such earthquakes recorded in February alone.
Coincidence?
Texas
Several times during Olympics coverage, I saw a TV ad, sponsored by the oil industry, where a pretty, young ranch owner talks about fracking and explains her family's reasons for allowing it on their land by saying studies conclude that it is safe for "our water, our air and our land."
Which makes certain current activities by Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson all the more notable. He recently joined with his neighbors in a lawsuit to stop fracking near their properties in Texas. Specifically, he is fighting a water tower needed for the fracking operation and the "negative side effects" of drilling near his 100 acre horse farm.
In 2012, Mr. Tillerson complained that fracking operations in North Dakota and Montana were creating a "natural gas glut" that was hurting profits. Considering that Exxon profits that year were "just shy of breaking (a) global record," his whining was patently outrageous; but that complaint pales when compared to the self-serving, callousness of Mr. Tillerson and his neighbors in their fight to prevent (safe! environmentally friendly!) fracking near their million-plus dollar properties.
Would it be wrong if I were to wish for a major fracking accident near Mr. Tillerson's home that completely wiped out the monetary value of his and his neighbor's properties?
No comments:
Post a Comment