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Bryan Yurchiak, with Witchey Lightning Rod, makes his way down the Kent State University Field House roof between two rows of solar panels in this 2012 file photo. Jane Harf writes that Scott Pruitt's narrow thinking on alternative energy could stall Ohio's clean-energy economy if he is confirmed as President Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com, File, 2012)
GRANVILLE, Ohio -- In Ohio, the clean energy economy isn't merely the future - it's the present. We already see clean energy providing jobs, saving money, and making our nation more secure. And we know we've only begun to scratch the surface.
So it was very troubling when President Donald Trump named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his nominee to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has repeatedly sued to block standards that would reduce harmful pollution and boost clean energy. His nomination suggests what many of us have feared about the Trump administration - that it will not understand either the future potential of the clean energy economy, or its current growing role in Ohio and across the nation.
The clean energy economy is taking off around the country. Millions of Americans now work in the industry. Indeed, more Americans work in wind and solar power today than in coal mining and oil and gas extraction. In 2016, more than half of electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. grid came from renewable resources, reports Daniel Cusick of E&E News.
Jane Harf is an energy and environmental consultant.
More and more Republicans are starting to recognize clean energy's economic opportunity.
In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich has repeatedly shown support for a healthier, more diverse energy mix. He remained committed to this vision last month when he vetoed Substitute House Bill 554, a bill passed in the Ohio legislature that would have extended the "freeze" on clean energy development.
In vetoing the bill, Kasich explained that, "Ohio workers cannot afford to take a step backward from the economic gains that we have made in recent years ... and arbitrarily limiting Ohio's energy generation options amounts to self-inflicted damage."
A recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy, titled "Grounds for Optimism: Options for Empowering Ohio's Energy Market," found that Ohio could grow the economy by billions of dollars, help residents save money on their electric bills and health care costs, and create tens of thousands of jobs by embracing renewable energy and efficiency standards.
These are jobs right here in our state that can't be shipped overseas. They are the kinds of jobs Americans voted for in November.
Yet Pruitt has made a career of backing policies that stall the economic growth of America's clean energy economy, in addition to preventing our country from being competitive in the international marketplace.
Moreover, Pruitt's abysmal track record on public health is reason enough to sound alarms. For years, Pruitt has tried to force the United States to abandon essential safeguards to the nation's water and air, and make it easier for big companies to pollute. He opposed basic protections for American families, like measures against the air pollution that causes asthma and toxic mercury that damages children's brain development.
With health problems like childhood asthma, respiratory disease, and heart attacks on the rise, as well as drinking water contamination and algal blooms in Lake Erie, Ohio cannot afford to go backward on clean air and clean water protection. Clean energy can play a key role in protecting the environment, while improving public health and growing our state's economy.
Good jobs, breathable air, and drinkable water aren't partisan concerns - a recent poll found that 75 percent of Trump voters support clean energy. Gov. Kasich understands that American families want to raise their children where the air and water are clean. Pruitt's nomination suggests Trump's administration is woefully out of touch with these basic American values.
Companies, from the largest corporations to small businesses, have invested billions in the clean energy economy. If Pruitt continues to ignore the economic promise of a cleaner, healthier energy system, we run the very real risk of not only losing the progress we've made in Ohio, but also across the country.
Thoughtful leaders like Gov. Kasich support policies that recognize clean energy leads to more jobs and investment in our communities, while saving families and businesses money. Ohio leaders should promote and defend the state's clean energy economy, as well as respect the wishes of the American people, and our Senators should carefully consider the impact and ramifications of Scott Pruitt heading the U.S. EPA. Real jobs - and real health consequences - are on the line.
Jane Harf is an energy and environmental consultant who served as director of Ohio's Energy Future Tour and the University Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio. She spent ten years in executive positions in governmental and environmental affairs at American Electric Power and served as deputy director at Ohio EPA under the late former Gov. George Voinovich.
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