When you think of the oil & gas lobby you probably think of Texas, Louisiana and Alaska. You probably don't think of Ohio unless you read my post last December, Ohio Has an Oil & Gas Lobby?
It sure does. And last week's Columbus Business First paper reported that it's still trying to get legislators to approve drilling on state parks, state forests, and state nature preserves.
Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, comprehensively summed up the energy situation by insightfully noting "the whole energy thing is getting spooky," adding "I'm shocked by it."
Pardon my snark but I think everyone on the planet who doesn't work in the oil & gas industry and/or listen to the petulant bloviating of a certain overweight, impotent drug addict knows that drilling on state lands will do zip for energy prices. What it will do is help the oil & gas industry pump out a few more dollars, some of which will end up in legislators' re-election funds and help them keep their jobs.
And so the cycle continues.
If this actually had a snowball's chance then it might be worth considering. But it's just another example of special interest politics. It's far more sensible to position Ohio to capitalize on long-term energy solutions and that requires R&D investment into alternative energy technology. If we don't, it will be yet another thing we export from Asia.
1 comment:
I have to agree with you, Ohio will be taking all the risk, spills and pollution, and any price drop, as if, would be shared by everyone in the world.
Think about that.
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