Isn't a "victory for fossil fuels" an oxymoron?
Media coverage of this quite literally vicious circle has been mostly thin and inadequate, in Ohio as well as nationally, as documented by Media Matters. A google search of the New York Times turned up little substantive coverage (the bill signing got a wire report one paragraph long). There were a couple of blog posts about Kasich versus renewable energy, one of which ("Ohio Rolls Back Renewables") only began promisingly:
The big-money coalition attacking solar and wind power scored a huge trophy this week. On Wednesday [May 28], the Ohio legislature became the first in the country to roll back renewable-energy standards for power generation, a victory for fossil fuels, soot and greenhouse gases.
Gov. Kasich is up for re-election in 2014, and his Democratic opponent Ed Fitzgerald jumped all over Kasich's willingness to sign legislation against renewable energy initiatives favored by 70% of Ohioans. Fitzgerald issued this statement:
Tonight, Governor Kasich's office announced that he intends to move Ohio's economy, families, and environment backwards. SB 310 will force utility prices to rise, and cost Ohioans thousands of jobs. In signing this bill, Governor Kasich will align himself with the Koch Brothers and the wealthy and well connected -- and against working Ohioans. As Governor, I will work to make Ohio a national energy leader, rather than make headlines for trapping Ohio in the Rust Belt.
Ohio's direct assault on the health of the planet, on the health of the renewable energy business, on a democratic process with integrity -- none of these have caught the mainstream media's fancy, but maybe the campaign name-calling will.
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