Governor DeWine, tear down this law

Open Letter to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine:

Governor DeWine, tear down this law. House Bill 6 was a terrible law for the people of Ohio right from the beginning. With the recent indictments, we are now aware of how awful it truly is. It needs to be repealed immediately.

Your response to the pandemic, although uneven, has proven you to be passionate about the health and welfare of Ohioans. Your record on environmental matters is uneven and more concerning. You supported measures to prevent harmful algal blooms due to pollution in Lake Erie, but you also appointed a clean energy critic to lead the Public Utilities Commission as well as the Ohio Power Siting Board. This person has created the ‘poison pill’ to thwart longstanding attempts to create renewable energy in Lake Erie.

You also supported HB 6. As you know, HB 6 seeks to bail out FirstEnergy’s nuclear and coal plants by forcing virtually every Ohioan to pay a surcharge.

We now understand that FirstEnergy was the source of $61 million funneled through a nonprofit group to maintain the alleged criminal conspiracy. In fact, it was “a conspiracy to pass and maintain a $1.6 billion bailout in exchange for $61 million in dark money,” U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers. Finally, some of the money was allegedly used to line the pockets of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and some associates.

Governor DeWine, this law is bad for the health (since it also removes some environmental protection) and welfare (since it requires all to pay for a bailout) of Ohioans. You recently said, “Because people did bad things does not mean the policy is not a good policy.” I strongly disagree. People did bad things precisely because HB 6 was bad policy that would otherwise not have become law. You also note that nuclear energy does not contribute to climate change. This is true, but the coal plant bailout and stripping of other environmental protection that are included in the bill do. Furthermore, any bailout should be funded solely by FirstEnergy stockholders and not everyday Ohioans.

Of course, the Ohio Legislature will need to do most of the work to repeal and remove this bad law. But you, Governor DeWine need to provide the leadership to get this done. Please do it quickly.