OEC Action Fund and partners ask Governor Dewine to VETO HB 507

The Honorable Richard Michael DeWine
Governor of Ohio
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 34215-6117

Dear Governor DeWine:

On behalf of our members, supporters, and those we serve, we want to first thank you and
your administration for being a champion for Ohio’s public lands throughout your first
term. Over the last four years, you have led the charge on landmark investments in Ohio’s
public lands. Your leadership led to the acquisition of the 35,414-acre Appalachian Hills Wildlife
Area. You also led on the reauthorization of full funding for the Clean Ohio Program, which
enables the creation of local parks, trails, and conservation easements throughout all of Ohio's
88 counties.

Because of your track record safeguarding Ohio’s public lands and the negative impacts that
we believe House Bill (HB) 507 will have on Ohio, we humbly ask that you veto this bill.
This legislation features two amendments that significantly overreach on the intended scope of
the original legislation, and serve as significant concessions to fossil fuel interests at the
expense of everyday Ohioans. These amendments were added in at the last minute, with no
opportunity for significant public discussion.

  1. Amendment 134_4113-1 defines natural gas as “green energy,” a factually incorrect
    claim. This language purposefully misconstrues natural gas' true role as a major contributor to
    greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and climate change.
    This language misrepresents the impact natural gas has on our environment. While this
    language does not impact the Renewable Portfolio Standard, it may lead to future legislation or
    actions taken by the state via the Public Utilities Commission to increase investment in natural
    gas resources at the expense of cleaner, renewable energy.

  2.  Amendment 134_3853 creates a state public lands leasing mandate that favors oil and
    natural gas over renewables. This amendment eliminates important public oversight and
    authority and forces ODNR to lease Ohioans’ state parks and public lands for the oil and gas
    industry.

Specifically, the amendment does the following:

  • Forces state agencies to lease state parks and public lands for fracking and oil and gas
    development at the industry’s request. Under current law, state agencies have
    discretion over whether to lease state land. State agencies include state universities
    and state colleges for purposes of this bill;

  • Gives oil and gas corporations effective control over what and when state lands are
    leased for fracking;

  • Creates a first-come, first-served leasing scheme that will likely lead to an unfair and
    unmanageable run on state lands for leasing and fracking;

  • Creates another clearly unfair advantage for oil and gas in Ohio by unduly favoring
    fossil fuel extraction on state lands while ignoring renewable energy solutions;

  • Harms taxpayers by end-running the public bid process that the current statute
    otherwise requires (in favor of the amendment’s first-come, first-serve leasing scheme);

  • Opens a major legal loophole that circumvents otherwise required public notice and
    comment on state lands leasing decisions;

  • Bypasses the state Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s charge to consider
    environmental and recreational impacts to public lands prior to deciding whether to
    authorize leasing; and

  • Bypasses restrictions on oil and gas development (wellpads, pipelines, tanks, etc.)
    being located on the surface of state parks and public lands (“surface occupancy”)
    HB 507, originally intended to address poultry and food safety, now contains objectionable
    provisions that provide very biased advantages to fossil fuel interests.

This is not the way Ohio should be determining policies that affect the lives and future of our residents and precious natural areas. The legislation decreases oversight into oil and gas extraction, forces ODNR to take actions they may disagree with, and sets a misleading precedent by defining natural gas as “green energy.” All of the final amendments were included with no meaningful public deliberation. For these reasons, we strongly urge you to VETO House Bill 507.

Sincerely,

Pete Bucher
Interim President
Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund

Tracy Freeman
Director of Government Relations

The Nature Conservancy in Ohio
Shaniqua Gibson

Ohio Organizing Manager
Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE)

Al Atfater
Board President
Appalachia Ohio Alliance

Donna Goodman
President
Athens Conservancy

Heather Cantino
Steering Committee Chair
Athens County’s Future Action Network

Marnie Urso
Senior Director, Policy
Audubon Great Lakes

Jeff Harvey
President
Audubon Society Mahoning Valley

Jim Tomko
President Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland
Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland

Anthony Ruffling
Policy Co-Chair
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers - Ohio Chapter

Peggy Ann Berry PhD, RN
Executive Director
Between the Waters

Rob Swindell
President
Black River Audubon Society

Shari Pollesch
President
Burchfield & Pollesch, P.C.

Linda Chen
President
Canton Audubon Society

Wendy Park
Senior Attorney
Center for Biological Diversity

Susan Righi, MD
Christ Lutheran Church Earth, Justice and Equity
and Justice Committees

Alexis Smith
Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Dr. Jason King
Co-Chair
Climate Reality Project - Greater Cincinnati Chapter

Jim Palus
President
Columbus Audubon

Danny McGee
Director of Innovation
Foresight Management

Brian Blair
President
Forest Conservancy, Limited

Stuart Smith
Water Quality Lead
Friends of the Mahoning River

Sherilyn Burns
President
Greater Akron Audubon Society

Tanner Yess
Co-Executive Director
Groundwork Ohio River Valley

William Hanavan, MD
Co-Owner
Heights Tree People

Randy Carmel
President
Killbuck Watershed Land Trust

Patricia Kellner, MD
President
Kirtland Bird Club of Northeast Ohio

Steve McKee
Trustee
North Central Ohio Land Conservancy

Dustin Lindley
Chair of the Board
Ohio Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

Amalie Lipstreu
Policy Director
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association

Sarah Adloo
Executive Director
Old Growth Forest Network

Jason Larson
Executive Director
Richland County Park District

Weston Lombard
Director
Rising Appalachia

Wes Adams
Owner
Scioto Made

Ericka Copeland
Ohio State Director

Sierra Club Ohio
Shuli Rosenfeld

Shuli Rosenfeld
The Conservation Project

Nancy Howell
Board Member
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society

Lynn Anderson
Youngstown Drinking Water Protection Bill of Rights

Daphne Carr
Youngstown Solidarity