A coalition of environmental, farm, manufacturers, business and public health groups are calling on the Ohio legislature to reinstate the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates controversially put on hold last year.
Ohio’s Energy Future, which is comprised of some three dozen groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Manufacturers Association, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Small Business Majority, as well as academics from various state colleges and universities, submitted a report to the legislative committee charged with studying the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mandates and recommending on their future.
The report says cleaner resources and technological innovation, including wind, solar and other no- and low-carbon alternatives, should be the center of the state’s 21st Century energy program.
The coalition’s report was issued following an “Ohio Energy Future Tour,” which gathered comment from 70 experts, as well as from some 10,000 residents who provided feedback online and at forums held across the state.
The legislative review committee is facing a Sept. 30 deadline to issue its recommendations.