Tagged In: Air Pollution, Clean Energy, Fracking, methane, natural gas

Natural Gas and Ohio Lawmakers’ Rose-Colored Glasses

This blog is part of our “Cut Methane” series.

Despite the growth of clean, and renewable energy across Ohio, the fossil fuel industry continues to put up a fight — doing all it can to stop Ohioans from reducing dependence on dirty, expensive fossil fuels. 

Recently, lawmakers invited grid operators and utility regulators to discuss an alleged, and disputed, projected energy shortfall. They sounded the alarm claiming the planned retirements of economically nonviable fossil fuel plants are not being offset quickly enough by renewable and alternative energy sources to meet the growing energy needs.  

While the findings and urgency from this hearing continue to be debated by experts, Ohio lawmakers have gone all in on empowering Ohio’s natural gas industry. Concerned Ohioans will have some difficult questions to ask regarding our future energy security, as well as the health of our climate, communities, and economy. 

But will our voices be heard over fossil fuel interests? 

The “Chicken Bill”

In 2023, the Ohio House passed House Bill 507, legislation originally focused on chicken regulations and food safety. Lawmakers rushed last minute amendments to wrongly define natural gas as “green energy” and fast-track fracking of Ohio’s beloved state parks). This move signaled concerns of constitutionality and the transparency of our democratic process, let alone scientific understandings of fossil fuel emissions and climate change.  

Let’s be clear, the science indicates natural gas is not “green.”  

The American Lung Association’s 2024 State of the Air report  found that 4 in 10 people in America live in places with unhealthy levels of air. One of the recommended actions to ensure cleaner air for all called on the federal government to finalize rules to clean up methane and other air pollutants from the oil and gas industry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized its rulemaking in January 2024 and now Ohio agencies’ must devise an implementation plan by 2026.

The science indicates the challenge is urgent.

MethaneAIR, a specialized jet equipped to take comprehensive methane measurements from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) collected data that shows methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are over four times higher than previous U.S. EPA estimates. In March 2024, the EDF launched MethaneSAT, a satellite which will use similar technology to capture data from space, and is expected to make that data publicly available later this year. 

New Legislative Hurdles

Despite the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, Ohio lawmakers drilled in deeper with House Bill 349.

In its current legislative session, the Ohio House passed a bill to further subsidize and incentivize natural gas companies by cutting their property taxes and allocating Ohio taxpayer dollars for natural gas pipelines and development. This bill comes at a time of high profits for natural gas companies, increasing rate hikes to our energy bills, and rising property taxes for homeowners. 

The Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund provided Opponent Testimony to this bill urging lawmakers not to pass it. This bad energy policy is egregiously shortsighted to the impacts fossil fuels have on our climate, our economy, and our health. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We have the power to make our vision of a cleaner, healthier Ohio a reality. Follow the work of the Ohio Environmental Council to stay up-to-date with Ohio energy policies. In our next #CutMethane blog, we’ll discuss how fossil fuel and utility companies are using concerns around energy reliability to push for more fossil fuel bailouts.