By B.N. Frank on December 19, 2022 from activistpost.com shared with thanks thefreeonline
Fracking has been and continues to be associated with causing significant biological and environmental harm in the U.S. (see 1, 2, 3). Despite growing American opposition to it as well as legal disputes, this controversial practice isn’t going away at least in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
From Cleveland.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Legislation to spur fracking in state parks and on other state-owned land, define natural gas as a “green energy,” and prohibit local pesticide bans is on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine after clearing a final legislative vote on Tuesday.
The Ohio House voted 59-33 to pass House Bill 507, which was initially introduced as a bill to reduce the number of poultry chicks that can be sold in lots before the Ohio Senate added the natural gas, drilling and pesticide provisions.
Toxic fracking waste illegally dumped in BC water treatment system
The legislation, brought by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, seeks to push the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to stop dragging its feet on approving rules for oil and gas drilling on state lands by requiring all state agencies to open up land they control to drilling until the commission puts such rules in place.
In 2011, state lawmakers opened state parks to oil and natural gas drilling and set up the commission to handle drilling applications. However, the commission has been slow to approve projects and missed a deadline last January to put leasing rules in place.
Ohio’s production of natural gas has soared in recent years thanks to fracking activity in Eastern Ohio.
- see also> West Texas hit by 5.4 earthquake, one of strongest ever in state2 days ago
- Evidence Says Fracking Causes Texas Quakes | Dallas Observer
- California Aquifers Contaminated With Billions of Gallons of Fracking …
It’s not yet clear exactly what the full effect will be of designating natural gas – a fossil fuel that is mostly methane, a powerful heat-trapping greenhouse gas – as a “green energy,” a term that’s typically used for renewable power sources such as sun, wind and water.
Forever Chemicals (PFAS) are a highly useful water repellant widely included in the secret toxic chemical mixtures added to billions of gallons of water pumped into the fracking wells, with zero oversight and exemption from Clean Water Laws, by the notorious ‘Cowboy Frackers’ who have then abandoned 3.2 million orphaned and abandoned wells (2021) and toxic ponds, often declaring bankruptcy to drill again with a new name, and thus pumping in ever more Forever Chemicals that can be lethal to humans at one part per trillion.
All this beneath US flags and claims to Make America Great Again, selling frack gas as LNG at astronomical prices to desperate nations deprived by the Pentagon’s wars, sanctions, cuts of Russian Gas and sabotage of Nordstream…..
State Sen. Mark Romanchuk, a Richland County Republican who successfully added the energy-related provisions to the bill, told the Energy News Network that he hoped the designation would help Ohio companies meet “ESG” investing practices. ESG standards are used by investors to identify companies that have socially conscious environmental, social and governance policies.
“I don’t know if it will work,” Romanchuk told the outlet.
The bill specifically states that natural gas projects aren’t eligible for renewable energy credits.
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Stephanie O’Grady, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the department didn’t request the amendment regarding drilling at state parks but has no position on its merits.
She said in the last four years, ODNR hasn’t signed any new leases for oil and gas drilling on its lands, though other state agencies may have done so. She did not offer data for previous years.
However, she noted that some of the oil and gas beneath state lands could be reached via surface interruptions at an adjacent property – meaning the ore could be gathered, in theory, without surface interruptions in state parks.
Illegal dumping of fracking fluids in Texas highlights risk
Pete Bucher, interim president for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, said in a statement that the Senate amendments to the bill are “nothing but political cronyism added at the last minute” by the oil and gas industry.
“These fossil fuel interest groups know major employers, public institutions and the public support moving to clean energy and protecting our public lands, so they hid from a public debate and snuck these amendments in,” Bucher said.
Another Senate-added amendment to HB507 would prevent local governments in Ohio from banning the sale or use of state-registered pesticides on private property.
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Lima Republican, told reporters that the measure was a “property-rights issue.”
DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney, when asked Tuesday if the governor intends to sign HB507, said the governor’s office is reviewing the legislation.
Jeremy Pelzer covers politics and state government for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read more of his work here.
Additionally, a growing number Americans (including in Ohio) are trying to stop radioactive fracking waste from being used to de-ice roads and/or being dumped in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.
Activist Post reports regularly about energy and toxins. For more information, visit our archives.
Image: Pixabay
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TOPICS:BN FrankEnergyFrackingOhioPennsylvaniaPollutionToxins
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