Kristy Meyer, clean-water director for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the risk justifies the expense. "One out of every 10 jobs on the lake is supported by tourism," Meyer said. "That's all at risk."

Nolan Moser, staff attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council, was one of several environmental advocates to congratulate FirstEnergy for the closing. "First Energy has made the right decision, and not just for its bottom line," he said. "Pulling the plug on these dirty, old, outdated coal plants will deliver cleaner air to millions of Americans. It will mean less asthma, less lost work, and less mercury emissions. We thank First Energy for doing right by the people of Ohio."

And Ohio Environmental Council spokesman Nolan Moser says the jobs picture is not as dire as Senator Portman makes it out to be. "Well, Senator Portman is wrong. Ohio's clean-energy industry is the number-one growing industry in the state of Ohio. And it's because energy companies are shutting down some of these older facilities and opening up newer, cleaner facilities. These cleaner facilities actually employ more people. In the long run, we've seen job growth that far outpaces any losses."

Joe Logan, agricultural director for the Ohio Environmental Council, speaks to a group of local residents gathered for a meeting hosted by the Coshocton Citizens for the Truth About Fracking on Wednesday night in the Frontier Power meeting room. About 110 people attended.

"There will be more and more stress on local communities to have the fire and emergency support there to help fund the infrastructure that's needed" for drilling, said Trent Dougherty, a staff attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council.

Jack Shaner, Ohio Environmental Council, offered suggestions about future well development and management. The council's suggestions include that a required newspaper advertisement to let the public know about new wells should be published for four weeks instead of one time. He also suggested that the public comment period be extended to 15 days and that the public be able to comment by jurisdiction.

A study by the Ohio Environmental Council, an environmental nonprofit public policy advocate, sent to the ODNR's Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management on Dec. 23, highlights a glaring oversight in state regulation that allows brine water injected directly into deep wells from drilling sites to be disposed of without any type of radiation detection.

"The state legislature has the power to do almost anything they want here," said Deputy Director of the OEC Jack Shaner. "We're calling on our state legislature. We want the shock waves from Youngstown to emanate all the way to the state house in Columbus and to get laws changed to put our air, land, and water first. To put people's property rights and to put our health and safety first."

David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said his group would prefer that Columbia build a new line along its existing route.

OEC Legal Affairs Director Trent Dougherty feels gas and oil might be basic commodities, but clean water is priceless, according to the Ohio Environmental Council. The agency is calling on the ODNR to expand testing and end unfunded mandates on local communities.

The Ohio Environmental Council believes ODNR should stop issuing drilling permits, based on surface spills of chemicals and groundwater contamination in Pennsylvania Utica shale oil fields.

David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said fewer people will want to conserve land in areas where development drives up property values and taxes. "It's a perverse incentive to not restore, not protect and not care for our natural world," Celebrezze said.

The Ohio Environmental Council, the Sierra Club, the Buckeye Forest Council and Citizens for Health Environment and Justice made their request to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in a 10-page letter dated Dec. 23.

"It's long overdue, but they stood up against big polluters and special interests, and they did the right thing for public health," said David Celebrezze, director of air and water special projects for the Ohio Environmental Council, a Columbus-based watchdog. "Industry cannot regulate itself. It's proven that."

Last week, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, 22 environmental groups and individuals signed on to a plan submitted to the state, calling for more changes to tighten up the regulatory framework. Those involved ranged from big organizations such as the Ohio Environmental Council, to small, locally based groups.

The Dec. 5 letter to the editor from my friend State Rep. Matthew Szollosi unfairly tries to turn clean air and water protections into a scapegoat for the broader problems of the U.S. economy.

Columbus has made a great step in adopting a comprehensive recycling program. For far too long we have gone without this essential service. This program will preserve landfill space and educate thousands about the importance of being good environmental stewards. Given the state of our climate and the rancor in Washington, it is good to see common sense win out at the local level.

An Ohio consumer group warned parents on Monday about toys the group said are filled with dangerous chemicals., Consumer 10's Kurt Ludlow reported. The Ohio Environmental Council reported that many toys are made with lead and poisoned plastics, and the government is not doing enough to stop the practice.

An Ohio consumer group warned parents on Monday about toys the group said are filled with dangerous chemicals., Consumer 10's Kurt Ludlow reported. The Ohio Environmental Council reported that many toys are made with lead and poisoned plastics, and the government is not doing enough to stop the practice.

"It is altogether reasonable, appropriate, and urgent to call a timeout on Ohio's black gold rush," said Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council, one of dozens of groups that signed on to the moratorium proposal.

"All of the rhetoric from the industry has been there's no way that this can happen," said Trent Dougherty, a lawyer for the advocacy group Ohio Environmental Council. "This shows that it has happened, and we need to protect the people in Ohio."

Joe Logan, director of environmental programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, suggested a certification system for those who apply fertilizer, with a fee system that encourages application in a way less likely to contribute to runoff.

Erek Hansen, known as "EcoErek", age 11 and a 6th grade student at Eisenhower Middle School in Oregon, Ohio, received an Environmental Achievement Award in the Youth & Education category at the Ohio Environmental Council's annual Green Gala in Columbus in October in front of a full crowd of 400 attendees.

Nolan Moser, representing the Ohio Environmental Council and other environmental stakeholders, reminded the joint committee members that in 2008, when Senate Bill 221 was enacted in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, the state's Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) were established. Since put in place, these policies have provided a cost-savings for consumers on their electric bills while creating pollution-free energy.

With such colossal-scale drilling, it is imperative that we take a collective breath and make certain that regulations truly protect our gas-field communities. Unfortunately, that is not the current state of the law (or the politics). Prime example: The oil and gas industry continues to receive special treatment in the form of exemptions from federal water, air, drinking water, and hazardous waste laws.

"The Ohio EPA will still be the Ohio EPA, no matter what we call it," said Jack Shaner, spokesperson for the Ohio Environmental Council, an advocacy group. "It's an issue of semantics, so call it whatever you want."

"The public needs the certainty of knowing that they will be protected," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council. "That ought to be the first concern here."

The pros and cons speak for themselves. Until it is properly regulated, we must say "No" to fracking. It's the only intelligent, responsible and neighborly choice. It's also the truly patriotic choice, if protecting our homeland is patriotic. Please educate yourself. The dangers of fracking are well documented. Some excellent starting points: Buckeye Forest Council, NoFrackOhio, Ohio Environmental Council.

11-year-old Eco-Erek, whom I've written about in this column before, collects denim and shoes through drives that he holds across the state of Ohio. This month Eco-Erek will receive the Environmental Achievement Award from the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Huffington Post

The Ohio Environmental Council has named State Rep. Dennis Murray (D-Sandusky) the council's Public Servant of the Year. The award is in recognition of Rep. Murray's "significant contributions to securing healthy air, land, and water for all who call Ohio home."

• The Press (Millbury)

"That is a toxic brew of brine and also heavy metals and toxic chemicals," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council. Shaner said that companies are moving on the fracking process too quickly and regulators need time to catch up.

• Ohio News Network (video)

Ohio Environmental Council legal affairs director Trent A. Dougherty said Gibbs' bill would open "the flood gates to pesticide pollution" and weaken the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to protect health.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

Director of Air & Water Special Projects for the Ohio Environmental Council David Celebrezze tells AkronNewsNow.com how the Ohio Environmental Council is helping Summit County take steps towards cleaner air. "We received a grant to secure $13,000 to put emission controls on four of the county's snow plows." The retrofitting of the plows will reduce soot pollution by approximately 30%.

• Akron News Now

Jack Shaner, a lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council, said the state should continue testing and keep warning signs up past Labor Day. "The lifeguard may no longer be on duty, but that doesn't mean the algae (are) asleep," he said. "This is way too early."

• Columbus Dispatch

"Time will tell if this will be a boom or a bust, but we need to make sure our air, land and water don't crater out getting there," said Jack Shaner, a lobbyist for the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Columbus Dispatch

According to Brian Kaiser, director of green jobs and innovation for the Ohio Environmental Council, the state's manufacturing industry, which includes 106 companies engaged in the wind energy supply chain, would not even be spared. "If Sen. Jordan's irresponsible effort is successful, Ohio can say goodbye forever to wind power installations and wind energy manufacturing jobs," he said in a statement.

• North American Windpower

Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Council, said Ohio is not ready for the onslaught that Big Oil and Gas is preparing. Despite the state's recent passage of a law requiring tougher drilling standards, the administration is still drawing up the actual regulations that drillers must abide, he said.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Marietta Times

Waste heat recovery is a good thing, but should not be a replacement for wind or solar in the standard, said Trish Lanahan of the Ohio Environmental Council. If cogeneration or another fuel were added to official state mandates, it would be harder for existing renewables to gain traction, she said. "Without an increase of the overall standard, you would be in fact the diluting the whole thing," she said.

• New York Times

"Although the decision is what it is on paper, the results probably aren't going to be clear for some time," said Trent Dougherty, an attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council. At stake in the decision was public access to portions of the shoreline and the rights of property owners.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Toledo Blade

"The people of Ohio should be protected by proper regulations of the oil and gas industry," Rep. Skindell said. Ohio Environmental Council Deputy Director Jack Shaner agrees. He says they aren't against getting natural gas and oil out of the ground in Ohio, but they want to make sure they are doing it right.

• WTAM (Cleveland)

"Fracking has gone from zero to 60 in a few heartbeats here," said Shaner, a deputy director with OEC. "We are driving faster than our headlights are illuminating the road. Clearly, there is more science to be done."

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

Jordan's proposal "couldn't have come at a worse time," Brian Kaiser of the Ohio Environmental Council said, noting that several companies are considering whether to bring renewable-energy manufacturing to Ohio. A key part of that decision is whether the state will have a robust market fueled by the current renewable-energy standards, he said.

• Columbus Dispatch
• Toledo Blade
• Houston Chronicle (AP)

"This does not say no forever to deep-shale gas development," said Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council, which supports Skindell's legislation. "But it does say slow down, let's take our time, let's get the best available science and let's get the most protective safeguards and regulations in place to guide the sensible, thoughtful, responsible development of this significant resource."

• Youngstown Vindicator

"The USEPA is conducting a study right now on what are the risks to ground water and drinking water," said Jack Shaner, who represents the Ohio Environmental Council. "It would be reasonable to hold off on any permits until that study is in and until we can improve our regulations."

• Ohio News Network (video)

David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said energy companies should install the best anti-pollution technology available, period. "We see that as a giant loophole you could fit a drilling rig through," he said.

• Columbus Dispatch

"We are concerned that Ohio is not yet prepared," said Ellen Mee, director of environmental health policy for the Ohio Environmental Council, during her appearance at the public forum in Columbus. "It will require the use of more fresh water, more toxic chemicals used in the fracking process, more toxic air emissions, more toxic waste disposal, more heavy truck traffic and more industrial-scale development."

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

In Ohio, officials are compiling lists of state-owned property that will then be marketed to gas and oil companies. "How can the state simultaneously protect and exploit its parks?" asked the Ohio Environmental Council's Shaner. "I guess we're about to find out."

• Cleveland Plain Dealer (Editorial)

Environmental groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the Lake Erie Waterkeeper Inc., want FirstEnergy to install costly cooling towers at the Bay Shore plant instead of using Maumee River water. They call the reverse louvers an untried technology. The groups are also unhappy that the EPA approved the permit 24 days after it was filed by FirstEnergy, with no chance for public comment.

• Akron Beacon-Journal

Kristy Meyer, clean-water program director for the Ohio Environmental Council, an advocacy group, said a better-funded monitoring program could catch problems before they grow into crises. "We should be more proactive in pointing out where these issues are and following up on them," Meyer said. "We shouldn't be waiting until someone is ill and going to the hospital or a pet dies."

• Columbus Dispatch

The health effects are too great and the potential solutions are too easy for our community not to take steps toward improving air quality.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

"It just makes a mockery of the water quality standards," Mee said. "If there was some incentive to help support the development of this technology, it really could become affordable."

• Chronicle-Telegram (Lorain County)

Trying to make his case that Ohio has more water than it could ever use, Grendell asserted that about 137 billion gallons of water a day flowed into Lake Erie and only 86 billion gallons a day flowed out...If that wasn't the case, we would see a spike in overall Lake Erie water levels rise, which hasn't happened. On the Truth-O-Meter, Grendell's claim rates as False.

• PolitiFact.com & Cleveland.com

$242,837 will be granted to the Ohio Environmental Council for Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) public engagement.

• U.S. EPA

"We would urge that Ohio move ahead cautiously and take this opportunity," said Ellen Mee, the council's director of environmental health policy. "We know that the Chesapeake was involved in a recent incident in Pennsylvania. A well blew out in April, causing thousands of gallons of fracking fluid to spill into a nearby waterway.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Statehouse News Bureau (audio)

Ellen Mee, director of environmental health policy for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the more recent, horizontal fracturing method is more dangerous because it uses more water and more chemicals to extract the gas. And the fracking fluid is shot at a higher pressure.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

Environmental groups, including the Ohio Environment Council and National Wildlife Federation, praised the governor for vetoing the bill. "Maybe now big business will get down to business and work responsibly to help craft a balanced plan," said Kristy Meyer, the council's director of agricultural and clean water programs.

• Wall Street Journal
• Columbus Dispatch
• Buffalo News

The bill has drawn fire from the Ohio Environmental Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the Alliance for the Great Lakes, former Republican Govs. Bob Taft and George V. Voinovich, and past directors of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and state Natural Resources department. Scientists from Ohio State University, Kent State University and the Nature Conservancy weighed in against it.

• Columbus Dispatch
• Should Gov. Kasich veto the Lake Erie bill? Vote in the Dispatch's poll

That swoosh sound that you heard at the end of June was not the sound of state lawmakers' high speed exit for the summer from the Capitol in Columbus. On the contrary, it was the Ohio General Assembly's partisan decision to open the spigot to massive, uncontrolled water withdraws from Lake Erie and Ohio's inland lakes, rivers, and groundwater that drain to Lake Erie.

• Akron Beacon Journal

As the legislative director of the Ohio Environmental Council, I know first hand that [State Representative Randy] Gardner does not agree with us all of the time. But we have found him to be an important champion on a number of issues as we work toward a cleaner environment.

• Sentinel-Tribune

Kristy Meyer, Ohio Environmental Council agricultural and clean water director, said environmentalists are trying to convince Mr. Kasich to intervene.

• Toledo Blade

Kristy Meyer is with the Ohio Environmental Council. She says massive water withdrawals are bad for Ohio's algae-clogged shoreline. And that could be bad for the shoreline in Northern New York.

• North Country Public Radio (New York)

"Uncontrolled, larger withdrawals mean more harmful algal blooms, less water for hydropower and could impact drinking water," said Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council.

• WNEP 16 (Pennsylvania)

But opponents are concerned the environmental impacts of expanded drilling in general [and] hydraulic fracturing in particular. "It is impossible to simultaneously protect and exploit our parkland," said Jack Shaner, public affairs director for the Ohio Environmental Council

• Hudson Times

Jack Shaner, deputy director for the Ohio Environmental Council, a bill opponent, said he welcomed Patton's opposition and took him at his word. "Why would he invite the ire of industry groups if his opposition wasn't genuine?" Shaner said.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Destroyed public employee records, evidence of police wrongdoing, evidence of environmental and human health dangers ... could all go away for a simple $10,000 fine," said Trent Dougherty, director of legal affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Associated Press

Nolan Moser, the clean energy program director for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the two parent departments have differing purposes. "The (Ohio) Air Quality Development Authority has a statutory duty to spend money and devote resources to clean air, to making energy production in Ohio cleaner," he said. "(The Ohio Department) of Development does not have that mission."

• Lancaster Eagle Gazette

The Ohio Environmental Council has expressed concern about the impact of the new rules on tourism and Ohio's $1 billion sport-fishing industry. Lake Erie is the shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes and produces more edible fish than the four other Great Lakes combined.

• Zanesville Times Recorder

The change in ownership does not erase the fears of environmental groups who have been vocal opponents of the company's past business practices. Joe Logan, the director of agricultural programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, said his organization has concerns about any expansion by Ohio Fresh.

• Columbus Dispatch

"I think (the site) is fabulous," said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean-water programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, an advocacy group. "A lot of people don't know that they should look or can look for that information, and it's vital to know."

• Columbus Dispatch

Taft and the Ohio Environmental Council argued last week during a committee hearing that the threshold requiring a permit was too high and essentially welcomed businesses to consume the lake's fresh waters.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Mike does an exceptional job essentially selling an industry that no longer exists," said Nolan Moser, a staff attorney at the Ohio Environmental Council. "He does an exceptional job selling a fiction. That's the kind of swagger he's got."

• Politico

Actual environmentalists and scientists say the bill lacks overall water-conservation guidelines and seeks to isolate Lake Erie from broader management of the Great Lakes basin - a violation of the compact's regional emphasis. That approach, the Ohio Environmental Council argues, "leaves Ohio vulnerable to litigation by not upholding our binding contract with the other seven Great Lakes states ... a waste of precious and scarce taxpayer dollars."

• Toledo Blade (editorial)

The former governor's position echoes that of the Ohio Environmental Council and other groups opposing the bill. They argue that it threatens the "health and safety" of the Lake Erie watershed and will result in a dangerous drain on the water supply.

• Toledo Blade (editorial)

Trent Dougherty, director of legal affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council, joins the ONA, the Ohio Association for Justice and the Ohio Employment Lawyers Association in a quest to strip the budget bill of an amendment to the Ohio Public Records Act that he says "effectively makes the ban on unlawful destruction of public records unenforceable."

• The Other Paper (Columbus)

After Taft spoke, the Ohio Environmental Council testified against the bill, saying that too much water can be withdrawn by businesses without hitting the amount needed for a permit. "We think they have rigged the numbers so high they will never hit the tripwires," said OEC deputy director Jack Shaner.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Columbus Dispatch

But Democrats argued that the bill sacrifices the environment and wastes a precious resource, largely to benefit industry. The Ohio Environmental Council is among those opposing the bill.

• Columbus Dispatch

The Ohio Environmental Council, among others, has expressed concern that the bill would give the commission, rather than state agencies that own the land, too much authority to grant drilling leases.

• Columbus Dispatch

The Ohio Environmental Council said the thresholds are not based on any scientific model and are higher than what other Great Lakes states allow. The environmental group also said the bill's mechanism for measuring the impact water withdrawals have on the basin is not scientifically based and could harm tributaries to Lake Erie.

• Springfield News Sun

Tomastik [of ODNR] says incoming brine has seen a dramatic increase since Pennsylvania told sewage plants to stop dumping brine into streams. The Ohio Environmental Council says the state needs to know more about chemicals in the brine.

• Daily Reporter (Indiana)
• WKYC (video)

As Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council, said in his testimony before the Ohio House - "the bill continues to advantage private interests to the disadvantage of public interests."

• Marietta Times (Editorial)

"We simply believe that oil and gas extraction is unfit, unsafe, unsightly, unnecessary, and unwanted on Ohio's state parks and other state lands," Ohio Environmental Council deputy director Jack Shaner told lawmakers during committee hearings.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Editorial

Joe Logan, agricultural-programs director for the Ohio Environmental Council, a coalition of environmental groups, said he likes the idea of using miscanthus. But he's not sure that farmers could make as much money growing it as they could corn or soybeans. "There are a lot of aspects to an energy system that haven't been considered yet," Logan said. "I'm not sure farmers have existing equipment to properly harvest it. I'm not sure whether this crop can be effectively dried and stored."

• Columbus Dispatch

"We saw injuries to people last year. We saw deaths to animals last year. Frankly we don't want to have that as the threshold for taking action. We want to keep people away from danger and try to clean up resources so that danger doesn't exist," said Joe Logan, Ohio Environmental Council.

• Hometown Stations (Lima)

"You are allowed to boat and fish even if there is a 'do not touch' advisory?" Kristy Meyer, director of the clean-water program at the Ohio Environmental Council, told the newspaper. "This is ridiculous."

• The Republic (Indiana)

The Ohio Sierra Club and the Ohio Environmental Council filed a notice of intent to sue in U.S. District Court in Columbus yesterday. Officials of the groups said they want the county to set a schedule to eliminate the problem and warn neighbors about the pollution issues.

• Columbus Dispatch

"This is the Coney Island of the natural areas of Ohio; it's a high-traffic area," said Jack Shaner, of the Ohio Environmental Council, a coalition of environmental groups. "It's nice that the state is putting safety first." Equally essential, though, is protecting the natural beauty of the park in the road realignment, he said.

• Columbus Dispatch

When a State House committee passed the measure last month, Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council said in a statement: "Under park rules, it is unlawful for a camper to tack a clothesline to a tree. But under the bill, it would be O.K. for a driller to chop his way through the forest to set up a drilling rig. This puts a whole new spin on 'getting away from it all.'"

• New York Times

Kristy Meyer, the Ohio Environmental Council's clean-water program director, said less water in Lake Erie could damage fish populations and worsen already serious problems with sewage pollution and toxic algae "blooms." "We have over 250,000 jobs sustained by tourism. We get over $10 billion in revenue a year from tourism from the lake," Meyer said. "Who wants to go to a lake choked with toxic algae?"

• Columbus Dispatch

Efficiency standards implemented after passage of energy legislation in 2008 have saved Ohio consumers millions of dollars, advocates of the legislation said last week. The Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) joined with other groups to say that SB221 is working. There has been some recent backlash against the law as legislators review the legislation, and Gov. John Kasich recently said he felt "Ohio essentially has no energy policy."

• Ohio Rural Electric News

"Ohio has always promised that its parks would remain a natural park, not an industrial park," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council, adding that the new leasing commission would be "too industry-cozy." He said the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources should have the final say on whether drilling is allowed in state parks.

• Columbus Dispatch

Drilling in state parks is "unwanted . . . and a heartbreaker," said Jack Shaner of the Columbus-based Ohio Environmental Council.

• Akron Beacon Journal

The National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, Ohio Environmental Council and other opponents say opening Ohio's parks to industrial development could harm groundwater, animals and scenic vistas.

• Dayton Daily News

There's a federal ban (on Lake Erie drilling), and as long as that's in place, great," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council. "But Congress is making noise. 'Drill,baby,drill' mania is sweeping the nation. ... Now it looks like Lake Erie could be endangered."

• Columbus Dispatch
• Canton Repository

Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council added, "It's a driller's dream. It's a false economy. The only ones getting rich will be the industry."

• Dayton Daily Record
• All Sides with Ann Fisher / WOSU (audio)

Environmental advocates urged lawmakers Tuesday to reconsider allowing expanded oil and gas drilling in state parks. "It is unwanted," Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council said during a press conference at the Statehouse. "When we go to the great outdoors, we want to go to get away from it all to a natural park, not an industrial park."

• Dayton Daily Record
• Columbus Dispatch

Jack Shaner, a lobbyist for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the state is too willing to sell off its forests. "These forests are much more valuable as a source of recreation and habitat," Shaner said.

• Columbus Dispatch
• WKSU (audio)

The coalition...said a 5 million-a-day limit "would have no impact whatsoever with respect to Lake Erie." But Kristy Meyer, of the Ohio Environmental Council, disagreed. Environmental groups plan to push a bill that would set lower limits that have yet to be identified. "The [business-backed] numbers are based on arbitrary numbers," she said. "Scientists are telling us that the numbers they're proposing will draw down the waters and start harming the Ohio Lake Erie basin." She said that could lead to more algae blooms and risk lake tourism.

• Toledo Blade
• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Statehouse News (radio) 3rd story down

Jack Shaner, a lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council, said the risks of pollution and ecological harm outweigh the potential economic benefits. "I think most Ohioans would be outraged to learn that the state may not be able to control what goes on in our parks," Shaner said. "Instead of figuring ways to allow the industry to scheme their way into our parks, the door should be firmly closed."

• New York Times

The House version of the budget preserves Gov. Kasich's plans to allow leases for drilling for oil and natural gas on state lands. The director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, David Mustine, talked about that proposal last week. Environmentalists are bitterly opposed, and Jack Shaner with the Ohio Environmental Council outlines their concerns about drilling and "fracking" in the state's parks.

• The Ohio Channel (video)

"I'm sure [Rep. Bob Gibbs] would be happy to be referred to as the anti-environmental member of the state Senate," said Trent Dougherty, attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council, the state's leading environmental group. "I'm not sure of a bill he sponsored that we didn't oppose."

• New York Times

Trent Dougherty, staff attorney with the Ohio Environmental Council, said that, under one of the proposed changes, any unnamed stream that the Ohio EPA has not previously assessed would be graded solely on the chemicals or pollution found in the water. The assessment would not include any assumptions about the variety of fish and aquatic insects that might live there.

• Columbus Dispatch

I recently spoke with Chief Environmental Officer Rich Shank. Prior to his role at Scotts Miracle-Gro, Shank served as executive director of the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. He is a board member of the Ohio Environmental Council and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Excerpts of our conversation are below.

• SmartPlanet.com

One of Ohio's largest environmental groups is imploring state legislators to say how they'll vote soon on the Kasich administration's controversial plan to open state parks to oil drilling. The Ohio Environmental Council, with help from the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation, is using the one-year anniversary of BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster to campaign against the plan. Trent Dougherty, the council's chief attorney and its legal affairs director, said the public has a right to know soon if their elected officials will "protect state parks or plunder them."

David Celebrezze, director of air and water special projects for the Ohio Environmental Council, attended and spoke at Thursday's public hearing in Columbus. Celebrezze doesn't question the air is cleaner and applauds the agencies for their regulations. But future activity might change things, plus there are other measures government can take to help ensure the levels are maintained or reduced.

• Coshocton Tribune

Ohio Northern University's Pettit College of Law will host "Current Issues Affecting the Environment through Mining and Drilling" with keynote speaker William Reisinger (of the OEC) on Tuesday, April 19, at noon in the Moot Court Room. The event is sponsored by the ONU Environmental Law Society. It is free and open to the public. Food will be provided.

• Ada Herald

"This reversal of fortune does nothing to help Ohio's downtowns," said Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council. "It will only cart jobs and economic development to the exurbs and beyond. Steel rails, by contrast, are magnets that help keep downtown urban cores vibrant by attracting investment while reducing tailpipe emissions and raising the quality of life."

• Cincinnati Herald

Joe Logan, agricultural-program director with the Ohio Environmental Council, said the hearing officer's decision shows that local officials can and should have a say in proposed farms. Logan is also a member of the advisory committee and voted against the proposed 75-day limit, saying it would weaken local officials' "leverage."

• Columbus Dispatch

Not everyone agrees with that assessment. Dave Celebrezze, director of air and water special projects with the Ohio Environmental Council, said he suspects the recession has as much to do with the decrease as pollution controls. "You have less diesel trucks out there burping out pollution," Celebrezze said.

• Columbus Dispatch

A 2010 report by the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force says pollution from coal-burning power plants across the country was responsible for 13,000 premature deaths in 2010, in addition to 10,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 heart attacks, said David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Akron Beacon Journal

Jack Shaner, an Ohio Environmental Council lobbyist, is not as optimistic. "It looks like they are being sound fiscal stewards," Shaner said. "On the other hand, there is no let-up in the need to protect our air, land and water in Ohio."

• Columbus Dispatch

Ann Fisher interviews the OEC's David R. Celebrezze about vernal pools - unqiue, seasonal wetlands that fill with life in each spring.

• All Sides with Ann Fisher (WOSU) - audio

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, has joined 11 other lawmakers and business leaders in requesting Gov. John Kasich's support of the TechBelt Initiative. The initiative is a public-private partnership focused on the development of freight and high-speed rail to connect Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Pittsburgh, according to a press release.

• Youngstown Vindicator

A spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Council, for example, said the group believes Brown's request is impossible to fulfill but doesn't view the move as a nod to politics. "He's been consistent. We've known him from Day One. He's always wanted to address environmental problems while protecting manufacturing. We see him as an honest senator who has been very clear where he is," said the council's Nolan Moser.

• Politico

It's not clear how much money would be raised [from leasing state park land for oil and gas exploration]. The funds from oil and gas leases and royalties would be used to reduce a $500 million-plus backlog of overdue maintenance and repairs at state parks, Laura Jones of ODNR said. Environmental groups already are lining up to oppose the proposal. "It's impossible to preserve and drill your state parks at the same time," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist for the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Columbus Dispatch

Trent Dougherty, an attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the state often does a poor job of enforcing rules that require companies to avoid or repair environmental damage. "The pipeline transmission companies aren't required to demonstrate that there is another way to do things," Dougherty said.

• Columbus Dispatch

So far, about 50 such wells have been drilled in the state. Now is a good time to pause for the kind of examination being pushed by, among others, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters. There is much to be learned from the experiences of other states, particularly the boom in Pennsylvania.

• Akron Beacon Journal (Editorial)
• Sign on to our letter to the Ohio General Assembly

The pipeline also would run near Toledo's Oak Openings Preserve Metro Park, home to 180 rare and endangered plants. That has environmental advocates concerned. Trent Dougherty, an attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the state often does a poor job of enforcing rules that require companies to avoid or repair environmental damage.

• Columbus Dispatch

He could tap new revenue from oil and gas drilling within the state, including within state parks. How much the state could make "is the billion-dollar question," according to Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council. Ohio maintains 74 state parks spanning 174,212 acres in 60 counties.

• Cincinnati Enquirer

The state is facing an $8 billion deficit. Officials with the Ohio Environmental Council, a citizen action group, told the Enquirer on Thursday they believe Kasich will put underused state parks up for sale.

• Cincinnati Enquirer

"Why is our governor against redeveloping Cincinnati's downtown and Over-the-Rhine areas with the streetcar? Steel rails offer a far superior path to jobs and growth and clean air than yet another asphalt road pitted with potholes," concluded Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council.

• UrbanCincy.com

"Why The Ohio Environmental Council wants to temporarily stop the Ohio Department of Natural Resources from issuing deep drilling permits. The group cites surface spills of chemicals and groundwater contamination in Utica shale oil fields in Pennsylvania. Council lawyer Trent Dougherty says his organization this week sent a letter to Ohio lawmakers.

• WOSU (audio)

"The controls can't go in place fast enough," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council, one of a dozen environmental groups which had sued the agency in 2009, saying the agency's new ballast rules were sorely lacking. "These destructive, invasive critters respect no boundaries or calendars. The only thing that can stop them is effective technologies and its important we get them in place as soon as possible."

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

Advocacy groups today said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to develop new regulations on ballast water in ships this year to help thwart the invasion of foreign invasive species. The move came as part of an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit brought by a dozen environmental, conservation and fishing groups against the federal agency demanding that the government develop a single, strong system of regulations to control ballast water discharges.

• Duluth (MN) News Tribune

Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council called the bill 'a promise breaker of the first order.' "The people of Ohio have been promised that our parks will be a refuge. People go to state parks to get away from everything, not to see, smell and hear drilling rigs and related operations," Shaner said.

• Akron Beacon Journal

"The people of Ohio were promised their parks would always be preserved," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council. Shaner said he thinks there's now more support in the legislature for drilling on state lands. "I don't think one consumer expects the price of oil and gas will drop one penny if 'drill baby drill' becomes the state motto," Shaner said.

• Columbus Dispatch

The Ohio Coal Association's position, while more absolute than Brown's, doesn't surprise environmentalists. But Brown's position nevertheless disappoints the Ohio Environmental Council, which supports new rules by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to curtail carbon emissions from coal, which scientists say are directly linked to detrimental climate change.

• CNN
• Cleveland Plain Dealer

FirstEnergy "has not acted in good faith," said Will Reisinger, an Ohio Environmental Council attorney, one of three witnesses the committee called to testify.

• Toledo Blade

Trent Dougherty, an Ohio Environmental Council attorney, said it grants lawmakers veto power over rules they deem bad for business. "It puts a bull's-eye on all environmental regulations," Dougherty said. "The benefits of environmental regulation are extremely difficult to quantify versus direct costs to businesses to comply."

• Columubus Dispatch

The Ohio Sierra Club, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Ohio Environmental Council, Northeast Ohio Oil and Gas Accountability project along with thousands of members throughout Ohio are protesting the state's proposed sale of Jefferson Lake State Park to Jefferson County. While the proposed sale would allow the park to stay open, it would damage the integrity of the park.

• Toledo Environmental News Examiner

In a motion last year with the Ohio Environmental Council and four other groups, the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel - a state office representing utility ratepayers - claimed FirstEnergy had acted in bad faith. A spokesman for that office said Wednesday that it is still analyzing FirstEnergy's latest filing.

• Toledo Blade

The Ohio Environmental Council worked with Pepper Pike and Cummins Bridgeway to retrofit two city vehicles with state-of-the-art emission control devices. The devices, diesel oxidation catalysts, will reduce pollution by about 30 percent on heavy duty diesel vehicles.

• Sun News (Cleveland)

"The court has a choice to make. It can protect 200 years of Ohio's public trust doctrine and follow a century's worth of Ohio Supreme Court case law. Or it can hand a free ticket for unfettered development to the wealthiest of landowners - a pass to wreak havoc on our North Coast and jeopardize Ohio's greatest natural resource," the Ohio Environmental Council's Trent Dougherty said in a statement.

• Columbus Dispatch

Environmental groups such as the Ohio Environmental Council contend the land belongs to the state. The council's director of legal affairs, Trent Dougherty, says that Michigan and Pennsylvania guarantee that citizens have a right to walk along the coastline up to the high water mark.

• Sandusky Register
• News-Herald (Willoughby)

The Ohio Environmental Council, Buckeye Forest Council and Sierra Club contend that DP&L provided little detail about the material it will burn and, as a result, the state EPA cannot know what the effect will be on air quality.

• Dayton Daily News

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has certified the Burger plant in Belmont County as a renewable-energy facility. But the Ohio Environmental Council has challenged that certification before the state Supreme Court, asserting that too much ambiguity remains about how FirstEnergy would produce electricity at the plant, and whether the energy produced would be genuinely cleaner, renewable, and sustainable.

• Toledo Blade

Nolan Moser, director of energy and clean-air programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, said Morris' criticism of the EPA is misplaced, because the agency is merely following through on new responsibilities that were clarified in a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. "The idea that you can just build a coal plant and it can provide you with cheap energy for 75 years is an outdated idea," Moser said.

• Columbus Dispatch

"The plan signals that the administration is committed to continuing efforts to improve the water quality," said Joe Logan, the Ohio Environmental Council's director of agricultural programs.

• WDTN (Celina, OH)

A new report commissioned by the Ohio Environmental Council, the Buckeye Forest Council, and the Sierra Club concludes that the state is losing money on its agreements with logging companies that cut down trees in state forests.

• Toledo Blade

The Ohio Environmental Council views it differently. "The PUCO writes their own rules," says Will Reisinger, staff attorney for the group, which represents the Sierra Club, the Buckeye Forest Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. "PUCO is giving [utility companies] a blank check with renewable energy credits in their back pocket."

• Cleveland Scene

"This new initiative indicates that Ohio's leadership is stepping forward to try new approaches to protect our shared resources," said Joe Logan, director of agricultural programs with the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Dayton Daily News

Environmental groups argue that drilling would spoil state lands for hikers and campers. "This is a promise-breaker of the first order," said Jack Shaner, a lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council. "Parks have been set aside with the promise that they would always be a park, protected from development."

• Columbus Dispatch

"This sale is poor public policy, poor precedent, and a poor financial deal for Ohioans," said Trent Dougherty, a lawyer for the Ohio Environmental Council. "We are hopeful, that the new Administration will put a halt to the negotiations until after the necessary public light is shined on this deal..."

• Cleveland Plain Dealer

"We have seen director after director work around the clock to grease the skids for new factories and industrial operations," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council. "It's hard to imagine how this agency can get any more business-centric."

• Columbus Dispatch

Toxic compounds emitted by factories, cars and trucks pose a higher-than-acceptable cancer risk in seven Ohio counties, according to a report released yesterday by state officials. Environmental advocates, however, said they had never seen risk estimates like these from the Ohio EPA. "It's news to us," said Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Council.

• Columbus Dispatch

"Folks looking to invest in the renewable energy sector have choices across the country and within the Midwest," says Nolan Moser, director of energy and clean air programs at the Ohio Environmental Council. "One of the reasons these companies have chosen Ohio has been this policy."

• Stateline.org

"This is a great collaboration in which we came together and did what is right," said David R. Celebrezze, Director of Air and Water Special Projects at the Ohio Environmental Council. "By taking steps to reduce pollution, we are improving the air and helping the county meet federal air quality standards."

• Sun News (Solon)

The city of Parma - with help from the non-profit Ohio Environmental Council - will install state-of-the-art emissions-control devices on 12 city vehicles.

• Sun Post (Parma)