pollution

A gas flare from the Shell Chemical LP petroleum refinery in Norco, Louisiana. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

EPA sued over failure to set, update pollution limits

BY: - April 25, 2023

More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, […]

COMMENTARY

The utility bailout House Bill 6 made both Ohio’s air and politics dirty

BY: - March 6, 2023

With all the drama surrounding the Householder trial for racketeering, it can be easy to forget the bill behind the former Ohio Speaker of the House’s alleged $60 million payoff from First Energy power company. House Bill 6 had four major impacts. It required power consumers to bail out two massive nuclear power plants in […]

COMMENTARY
The waterfall at Ash Cave in Ohio's Hocking Hills State Park. Getty Images.

DeWine should veto drilling threat to state parks falsely labeled ‘green energy’

BY: - December 13, 2022

Ohioans love their state parks. I’ve been to seven this year. Had lots of company. The log of daily visitors is surging at the parks. Overnight stays jumped 26.5% from 2017 to 2021. Try booking a campsite or cabin in the summer — or fall. Everybody wants one. The lure of solitude and escape in […]

COMMENTARY

Clean energy is about more than just climate change

BY: - September 6, 2022

Imagine for a moment that climate change wasn’t happening. That the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change hadn’t determined major inevitable and irreversible climate changes are likely on the horizon due to release of greenhouse gases. Would our transition past coal to a new energy economy still make sense? According to a new working paper by […]

Vilsack: America’s voluntary approach to agriculture is better than Europe’s mandates

BY: - August 31, 2022

BOONE, Iowa — The more than $1 billion the federal government is devoting to voluntary efforts to reduce agriculture’s adverse effects on the environment is a better long-term strategy than mandating new rules for farmers, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Tuesday. While state and federal officials in the United States have tended to […]

Kaine climate proposal aims to reduce stormwater pollution from military bases

BY: - November 5, 2021

Lawmakers from Chesapeake Bay states are looking to attach a climate-related provision to the must-pass annual defense bill. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, (D-Va.), introduced Thursday legislation that would allow the Defense Department to use several sources of federal funds to undertake stormwater management projects at military bases. The plan also has been backed by House […]

Feds and states not taking radioactivity from fracking seriously, environmental group says

BY: - July 27, 2021

Fracking might be an economic boon to some landowners in depressed sections of Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and much of West Virginia. But federal and state officials are doing little to protect citizens from the radiation hazards posed by the process, a new report says. For example, a solution containing substances such as Radium-226 in […]

Lordstown Plant

One economic index shows Ohio lagging

BY: - June 11, 2021

By one measure of economic output, Ohio has roughly performed at the national average in recent years. But by another measure — intended to take into account factors outside the marketplace — it's not clear the Buckeye State is doing so well, a new report says.

COMMENTARY

Methane pollution poses serious risks to our health

BY: - March 25, 2020

As the oil and gas industry expands rapidly in Ohio, so does the risk of methane pollution. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted at all stages of the oil and gas supply chain.  The climate warming impact of methane over a 20-year period is estimated to be at least 86 […]