On their Thursday evening newscast, WKYC-TV in Cleveland took a deep dive into the fracking debate, and highlighted IO’s recent proposals to protect Ohioans as part of its reporting. [Read more…]
Attorney General DeWine acts quickly on IO recommendations
In an interview yesterday with the Associated Press, Ohio’s Attorney General, Mike DeWine, indicated that his office has concluded that Ohio’s oil and gas laws are currently inadequate to protect landowners and the environment. DeWine proposed three changes to Ohio law, two of which are completely harmonious with a major report on fracking released by Innovation Ohio six days earlier. We applaud the AG’s action on behalf of Ohioans, and urge Governor Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly to follow suit.
Read our press release on Attorney General DeWine’s proposals.
Read our report, “Fracking, Fairness and the Future.”
IO Praises DeWine for Quick Action on “Landowner Bill of Rights”
For Immediate Release: Feb. 9, 2012
Contact: Dale Butland, 614-783-5833
Innovation Ohio Praises DeWine for Quick Action on “Landowner Bill of Rights”
Think Tank Says Kasich Should Pursue IO’s Other Two Proposals
Columbus: Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today warmly praised Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine for announcing that he intends to pursue a series of actions to protect landowners who sell “fracking” mineral rights to oil and gas companies.
DeWine’s announcement comes just six days after the release of IO’s “Fracking, Fairness and the Future” report, which recommended that the state adopt three major policy recommendations, including a “Landowner Bill of Rights” enforced by the Attorney General. DeWine’s proposals closely mirror Innovation Ohio’s recommendations.
Said IO President Janetta King:
“We’re delighted that Attorney General DeWine obviously agreed with us that action must be taken to protect Ohio landowners from being ripped off or kept in the dark when they sell mineral rights to big oil and gas companies.
“In particular, we’re delighted that the AG and IO are on the same page concerning the need for stronger chemical disclosure regulations on a per-well basis, that his office should be empowered to assist landowners with complaints, and that current state law must be strengthened when it comes to penalizing violations.
“Now that the Attorney General has done his part, it’s time for Gov. Kasich and the General Assembly to step up to the plate and do theirs. Specifically, they should not only enact the DeWine recommendations, but also create a “Hire Ohio” policy to make sure Ohioans, not out-of-state workers, get the tens of thousands of jobs that the oil industry claims will be created. And they should enact a reasonable Windfall Profits or “severance” tax, preferably at the Texas rate of 7.5% on natural gas and 4.6% on oil and natural gas liquids.
“Similarly, the Governor has frequently said that while he’d love to help school districts and local governments recoup some of the billions they’ve lost through his budget cuts, the state is ‘broke’ and can’t afford any ‘bailouts.’ Well, a fair windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies could provide a brand new and multi-billion dollar revenue stream to help schools, communities and local taxpayers. And given the tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars Big Oil is poised to earn from fracking, asking them to pay the same tax rate they currently pay in Texas is perfectly reasonable.”
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IO on TV: Dale Butland on The Spectrum
Yesterday’s edition of NBC4’s Sunday public affairs program, The Spectrum, was dedicated to the topic of Fracking. Kicking off the broadcast was a recap of our report calling for policies that protect Ohio’s landowners and environment and ensure a portion of the state’s oil and gas wealth are retained here to make up for cuts to schools and local governments. Later in the program, IO’s Communications Director, Dale Butland, was joined on the panel by Republican consultant, Terry Casey, to discuss the report and other topics.
Watch online:
IO on TV: NBC4 coverage of our fracking report
Last night, Ted Hart’s story on Innovation Ohio’s report, “Fracking, Fairness and the Future,” led the 6 p.m. newscast on NBC4 (WCMH) in Columbus. It nicely summarized our proposals, including why we believe adjusting Ohio’s oil and gas severance tax rate to the same level as Texas is fair to drillers, and compensations local communities and schools for the impact of fracking as well as making up for some of the cuts they sustained in the state budget.
Watch it online:
Read the report and view our map of fracking locations across Ohio.
Report: Fairness, Fracking and the Future
Ohio’s oil and gas resources have caught the attention of drillers, investors and political leaders alike. Thanks to a process known as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), substantial reserves of oil and gas trapped deep under the surface can be extracted and brought to market, with a potential value of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Though a shale boom potentially could bring tens of thousands of jobs to Ohio, environmental concerns have raised doubts about whether fracking and its associated processes are safe. However, environmental issues are not the primary focus of our report. Because creating jobs will do little good if we poison our people and destroy our state, we believe it is self-evident that fracking should be halted if threats to public health and safety cannot be resolved. But if fracking does go forward, we believe that the economic benefits should be shared fairly with ALL Ohioans, not transferred out of state or allowed to flow down a one-way street in the direction of Big Oil.
In our report, “Fracking, Fairness and the Future,” we call on Governor Kasich and state lawmakers to ensure that Ohio workers, landowners and taxpayers receive a fair share and a fair shake if the state decides to allow expanded drilling for oil and gas.
Our recommendations include: charging industry a reasonable severance tax and sharing the revenue with local governments hit hard by budget cuts and poised to deal with the local impacts of increased drilling; establishing a landowner’s bill of rights; and creating a “Hire Ohio” policy to ensure new jobs go primarily to the Ohioans who need them.
Read the executive summary.
Read the report.
Read the press release.
Visit our map of fracking locations in Ohio.
Visit our fracking resources page.
IO Says Ohioans Should Get “Fair Share” Of Fracking Benefits
For Immediate Release: February 2, 2012
Contact: Dale Butland, 614-783-5833
IO Says Ohioans Should Get “Fair Share” Of Fracking Benefits Think Tank Proposes “Windfall Profits Tax” on Oil and Gas Companies, “Hire Ohio” Policy and “Landowner Bill of Rights”
Columbus: Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today released a major report entitled “Fracking, Fairness and the Future” which calls on Gov. Kasich and state lawmakers to ensure that Ohio workers, landowners and taxpayers receive “a fair share and a fair shake” if the state decides to allow expanded drilling for gas and oil via a controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Click here to read the report. Though a “shale boom” potentially could bring tens of thousands of jobs to Ohio, environmental concerns, including a series of earthquakes near Youngstown, have raised doubts about whether fracking and its associated processes (including waste water disposal) are safe. While the state investigates, Gov. Kasich reportedly intends to highlight the economic benefits of fracking during his February 7 “State of the State” address in Steubenville. Environmental issues are not the primary focus of this report. Because “creating jobs will do little good if we poison our people and destroy our state,” IO believes it is self-evident that fracking should be halted if threats to public health and safety cannot be resolved. But if fracking does go forward, IO believes “the economic benefits should be shared fairly with ALL Ohioans, not transferred out of state or allowed to flow down a one-way street in the direction of Big Oil.” Among the report’s key findings are:- After analyzing oil and gas reserve estimates from both industry sources and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, IO projects that an all-out shale boom could mean $86 billion in natural gas revenue for the developers over the next 20 years. There also is estimated to be between $130 billion and $550 billion worth of oil in Ohio’s shale and an unspecified amount of additional value in natural gas liquids. Yet Ohio currently has the second lowest oil and gas severance tax in the nation and levies no tax at all on the extraction of valuable natural gas liquids.
- Though oil and gas companies are already signing hundreds, if not thousands, of mineral rights leases with Ohio farmers and landowners, the New York Times and other publications have found that such purchases in other states have resulted in unsuspecting landowners being taken advantage of by unscrupulous companies and “landmen.”
- While the centerpiece of the industry’s effort to sell fracking is the promise of tens of thousands of new jobs, there is currently no guarantee that these jobs will go to Ohioans. Indeed, anecdotal reports from areas where wells are already operating indicate that jobs often go to “experienced” workers from states like Texas and Louisiana.
News Release: IO Proposes Energy Policy Principles
For Immediate Release: September 20, 2011
Contact: Dale Butland, 614-783-5833
Guiding Principles for Ohio Energy Policy IO Weighs In On Eve of Gov. Kasich’s “Energy Summit”
Columbus: With Governor John Kasich’s invitation only “Energy Summit” scheduled to kick-off tomorrow, Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today laid out five principles that it said should serve as a philosophical foundation for policy-makers. IO President Janetta King said: “We congratulate Governor Kasich for hosting this Summit and agree that a sound energy policy is vital to economic development in Ohio. Happily, Ohio is already a national leader in a variety of energy-related areas. Instead of forfeiting that leadership by throwing out what we’ve accomplished, we urge Governor Kasich to build on the strengths we already possess. It is in a spirit of collaboration that we offer five principles that we hope will guide the Governor and energy policy-makers.” IO’s five principles are: Energy customers should be on equal footing with energy suppliers, and homeowners should not be asked to subsidize business energy users Ohio’s electric rates are 10% below the national average and that competitive advantage must be sustained. Ohio “job creators” include electricity-intensive manufacturers who need affordable, reliable and predictably priced power. Especially since the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel had its budget sliced in half, homeowners need protection. Proposed rate plans like those apparently contemplated by AEP, in which business users would receive rate cuts, while residential users would suffer a nearly 11% rate increase, should not be tolerated. Ohio should retain its leadership in “green” jobs and advanced energy technologies Ohio has built one of the most aggressive advanced energy portfolios in the nation, ranks among the top 5 states in the creation of green jobs, and is a world leader in the wind-power supply chain. Ohio should insist on maintaining this leadership, and should reject ill-conceived efforts like the proposed SB 216 which would dismantle Ohio’s advanced energy portfolio standard and weaken our manufacturing base. Ohio should create a policy for natural gas “fracking” that protects our environment, builds wealth in Ohio’s communities and creates permanent jobs for Ohioans, not out-of-state companies. Natural gas should be treated as a component of Ohio’s energy mix, not a silver bullet that would solve all our energy problems. Though fracking may have its place, it must not be allowed to despoil the air, water, and soil of eastern and southern Ohio. And policy-makers must keep in mind that Ohio’s natural resources should produce wealth for Ohioans, not be a vehicle through which we transfer our wealth out of state. Improved energy efficiency should be a top priority Efficiency is the not only the cheapest form of energy, it also helps the environment, decreases our reliance on fossil fuels and is a sure source of savings as the cost of power inevitably increases. Modernization of Ohio’s energy-producing infrastructure must not be ignored Ohio’s energy infrastructure should be treated not as an after-thought, but as an extension of our job-creating strategy. Accordingly, it should be geared toward the economy of the future, not that of the past.-30-
Who said anything about Right to Work? Kasich bashes Ohio workers on his latest failed attempt to draw a company to Ohio
What has recently been rumored was finally announced by Governor Kasich last week at the Columbus Metropolitan Club: Calisolar, a manufacturer of components for the solar energy industry, is not locating to Mansfield, Ohio after all and is not bringing its 800+ jobs to Mansfield. As reported in the Mansfield New Journal, Governor Kasich said in his speech “Calisolar’s going to Mississippi, right to work, did you know that? Eight hundred jobs in Mansfield. Forget it, we’re not interested.”
It is troubling that Governor Kasich’s first response in attempting to explain why he was unable to land Calisolar is to blame Ohio’s workers, a statement clearly contradicted in that same Mansfield News Journal article by others close to the negotiations . Maybe Calisolar’s choosing of Mississippi has more to do with the Governor’s lack of commitment to a comprehensive energy strategy or that he has been singularly focused on natural gas (specifically Utica Shale) at the expense of all other energy sources. Whatever it may be, there is no evidence that Calisolar’s decision had anything do with workers’ rights to organize, and it’s disingenuous of the governor to say as much.
Read the article here: Gov. John Kasich says Calisolar moving to Mississippi, cites economic climate
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