Ohio DNR Enemies-Listed 2 D State Reps, Referred To Sierra Club As "Secretly Funded Extremist Group"
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources crafted a communications plan that drew clear lines between whom they considered allies and who they considered adversaries. The state agency, led by appointees of Republican Gov. John Kasich, created that plan in 2012 to promote the controversial practice of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.
Included on the list of adversaries were two Democratic representatives, Bob Hagan of Youngstown and Nickie Antonio of Lakewood. Antonio believes she’s being unfairly targeted for trying to limit fracking, including a ban in Lake Erie.
Antonio: “I believe that’s the best policy for the health and safety of the people of Ohio. And so to call my intentions or my work anything less than that is certainly insulting.” The Sierra Club of Ohio unveiled the 10-page memo with the help of liberal think tank Progress Ohio. The document warns that the state’s efforts to lease land to oil and gas companies would be met with “zealous resistance by environmental activists.”
ODNR says it never implemented the plan, but the department defends creating such a strategy and referred to the Sierra Club and Progress Ohio as “secretly funded extremist groups.” While ODNR says the plan was never implemented, Hagan strongly disagrees, noting recent language to push various legislation.
EDIT
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/02/19/dems-named-in-drilling-memo-call-it-insulting/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Maybe I ought to avoid Ohio.
