The Koch Brothers Called, Kasich Answered -- Ohioans Lose

In 2008, Ohio passed a bill requiring that 25% of the state's energy come from renewable sources by 2025.  The bill passed with virtually no opposition and was signed into law by then Governor Ted Strickland (D).

Fast forward to 2014 and we find Ohio is now led by Governor John Kasich (R), whose party does not believe in the science of climate change.

On Wednesday, under Mr. Kasich's stewardship and with his personal assistance in negotiations, the legislature voted to freeze all regulations calling for a reduction in coal powered energy for two years while they study the issue of renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

Ohio Governor John Kasich (R)

what eye thynk:  Do Mr. Kasich and his anti-science cohorts expect us to believe that this issue wasn't thoroughly studied six years ago?  Or is it just that the original study didn't fit the facts as they want them to be?  

The Koch brothers have lots of money tied up in coal burning energy plants, and are always on the lookout for an anti-renewable energy cause to champion.  They were only too happy to focus their efforts and their money in Ohio this Spring; and Governor Kasich proved only too happy to bow to the alter of Koch dollars.  

And so Ohio Republicans have turned their backs on progress and voted to embrace the technology of a century 14 years in the past.  

Republicans would like us to believe this is about saving Ohio jobs, but the truth is that this freeze could actually cost the state the 25,000 jobs expected to be created as alternate energy companies move into Ohio.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board wrote: This "is more than a simple freeze; the bill also will chill what have been burgeoning alternative-energy investments in a state, and during a governorship, that aims to create Ohio jobs."

But "jobs" means taking care of the "little people"--those who work for a living.  Mr. Kasich has clearly shown that, under his watch, Koch money trumps "jobs for the little folk" in Ohio.

Everpower, a wind turbine company, is one company that has created jobs for Ohioans, but now sees those jobs in jeopardy under Mr. Kasich's governorship.  Everpower was lured to Ohio under the 2008 renewable energy bill.  The company gained approval for a proposal to build 176 turbines in the state with the plan to sell wind-produced energy to businesses.  Now that Ohio's Republican leadership has indicated to Ohio businesses that there is no imminent reason to make the change to renewable energy, Everpower's public policy officer Michael Speerschneider points out that it will be harder to sell the energy his company's turbines are getting ready to produce. "We came to Ohio based on the policies that were in place. Changing that now, freezing it, just sends a message that says 'Now we don't want you here anymore.'"

State Representative Robert Hagan (D) said, "As the rest of the country is moving forward on energy efficiency and independence, Ohio is moving backward.  Reversing our Renewable Portfolio Standards is completely irrational, and unfortunately Ohio consumers and businesses are the victims of the absurdity."

Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, Austin remarked on Ohio's step backwards: "The intellectual rhetoric around why you would want renewables has been lost and replaced by partisanship."

So, let's give a big hand to my home state of Ohio, where our governor is proud to have lead the Backward-Into-the-Last-Century Parade and to our legislators who followed him like ill-informed lemmings.   

At least the Koch brothers are smiling tonight.