“August 2012
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources — which is supposed to be the watchdog for the oil and gas industry — worked with the industry to create a communications plan that they hoped would win support from Ohioans for fracking on public lands. Environmental and grassroots groups were referred to as “obstacles” and “skilled propagandists.”
December 2021 – House Bill 507
House Bill 507 is introduced to revise the number of poultry chicks that can be sold in lots. The sole purpose for the one-page bill is to cut the number of chicks that can be sold as a lot from six to three.
December 2022 – HB 507 stuffed with amendments
Republicans in the Senate Agriculture Committee insert multiple amendments to HB 507 in the during the lame duck session favoring the oil and gas industry. The bill passes the legislature quickly with no public testimony. Among the changes are clauses declaring methane gas to be “green energy” and mandating that state agencies allow fracking on Ohio public lands. The Washington Post documented dark money contributions from the oil and gas industry to lawmakers who stuffed the bill.
April 6, 2023 – Environenmental groups sue
Earthjustice, representing Buckeye Environmental Network, Ohio Valley Allies, and Sierra Club, along with Ohio Environmental Council and the Case Western Environmental Law Clinic, file a lawsuit against HB 507, arguing that it is unconstitutional because it violates the one-subject rule by putting unrelated oil and gas amendments into a poultry bill, and violates the three considerations clause by being rushed to a vote. The lawsuit asks for a temporary restraining order to stop mandatory leasing of public lands for oil and gas extraction.
April 10, 2023 – 14 frack pads sought at Salt Fork
A public records request found that last October, Texas-based Encino Energy — formerly the bankrupt Chesapeake — submitted a proposal to ODNR to surround Salt Fork State Park with 14 fracking pads containing up to 89 frack wells. Encino claimed potential payments to the state of almost $2 billion over 15 years even though extraction would only last six years. Although ODNR turned them down, the request is an indication of what the oil and gas industry wants for our state parks and public lands. Meanwhile, an Ohio State University study found that preserving our parks adds $8.1 billion to the state’s economy each year and creates 132,790 jobs.
August 12, 2023
13,000-acre fracking proposal for Salt Fork State Park withdrawn – for now.” (Timeline 2023).
It’s hard to set aside my personal frustrations when reading this article, but a sliver of optimism that stood out to me was the study conducted by OSU which stated that it is more economically viable to preserve parks than it is to continue fracking. It’s not often that the interests of people, wildlife, and the economy align in a way that is beneficial for all.
Save Ohio Parks shows that people do care about their environment, they feel a sense of responsibility for the human footprint. They care enough to gather in protest and seek change. But they are frustrated that larger organizations, corporations, and legislators do not share those sentiments.
How can design be used to promote communication and trust between individuals and institutional powers in order to create clean parks?
The point of sustainability is not to sustain systems we currently have that are proven time and time again to have disastrous impacts on the environment. A sustainable future is a future of change; people recognize that and want to work with institutions to make those changes.
How can design help insitutions better reflect the sustainability intiatives of local communities and environmental organizations?
Timeline. (2023, May 14). Save Ohio Parks. https://saveohioparks.org/history/
