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May 17, 2025
Much attention is focused on whether a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling will limit the EPA’s options for addressing climate change. But we need to be aware that on March 12 Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill aimed at cutting state rules that may have a similar effect on Ohio’s ODNR regulation of the fossil fuel industry. The bill instructs state agencies to review their rules periodically, and it only allows those rules to remain in place if they meet certain criteria.
The bill says, “In making its review, the agency shall consider the continued need for the rule, the nature of any complaints of comments received concerning the rule, and any relevant factors that have changed in the subject matter affected by the rule.” While the fracking industry is not singled out, ODNR regulations – weak as they already are – will be subject to this review. Among the “relevant factors” may well be the oil and gas crisis related to the war in Ukraine.
So at both the state and national level it seems law-makers want to limit the ability of agencies to fulfill their mandates under such legislation as Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Of course, the so-called Cheney/ Halliburton Loophole already exempts the oil and gas industry from these and subsequent environmental protection bills.
Here in Ohio another factor is the effort by our Senate and House to limit the ability of local governments to enact rules their own citizens want. According to the Ohio Municipal League, since 2003 17 laws have been passed that usurp local control. Another 21 bills are pending.
Two bills that were recently signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine have special significance for environmental sustainability. One law blocks Ohio cities from banning “natural” gas, an action that has been taken by a small but growing number of progressive cities in an effort to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. The other law, which the Ohio Municipal League called “an overstep by the legislature to interfere in the values of local communities,” bans - for at least a year - prohibitions on single use plastic bags.
On the other hand, last August Gov. DeWine signed Senate Bill 52 into law, allowing county commissioners to reject or place limits on the siting of specific wind or solar industrial developments. Some of the same legislators who argued against the bans on plastic bags and “natural” gas because “a patchwork approach to energy policy by cities or counties is unworkable” supported the bill to give counties the power to restrict wind and solar power, in effect authorizing a new patchwork quilt of alternative energy rules.
If the Supreme Court limits the ability of the EPA to institute meaningful environmental regulations, the task of combatting climate change will be even harder.
But in any case we need to challenge efforts by Columbus lawmakers to block Ohio regulations that could limit the damage from the fracking industry and slow the transition to alternative energy.
