Grassroots Organizing Team Shares 20,000+ Messages Supporting Clean Energy
Just of the few of the many supporters of clean energy we met across Ohio.
COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio Citizen Action will lead a climate action rally and workshop event starting at 11 a.m. on November 16th, on the North Plaza of the Ohio Statehouse. The rally features a large photo collage of hundreds of people demonstrating their support for energy policies that protect air, water and public health, starting with an end to the freeze on Ohio’s clean energy standards.
Despite recent polls showing 70% or more Ohioans favor expanding solar and wind energy projects in the state, legislators have thrown up numerous obstacles to new projects, including voting for the freeze in 2014, increasing setback requirements for new wind projects and now, proposing an extension of the freeze during the legislature’s lame duck session.
“Ohio’s lawmakers seem deaf not only to the people, but even to the governor, who’s told them he won’t approve an extension of the freeze,” said event organizer Shannon Adams. “We’re here to raise the volume and urge state leaders to get Ohio’s clean energy policy back on track,” she said.
Speakers will address the cost of delaying the transition to cleaner energy and the importance of grassroots advocacy in ensuring Ohio’s energy policy reflects the will of the people. Teri Blanton, who for the last 20 years has been combating mountaintop removal and toxic pollution in her home state of Kentucky, knows that coal pollution produced in Ohio affects people far outside the state. “Look at where your energy comes from,” she advises. “Ohio’s demand for coal from Kentucky and West Virginia is decimating our land and our people, as well as polluting Ohio’s air and water.”
After the rally, grassroots organizers will deliver more than 20,000 statements of support and hundreds of personal letters from Ohioans to the governor’s office, urging him to reinstate Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. The statements and letters were collected during thousands of in-person visits by Ohio Citizen Action, which estimates sending the governor more than 7,500 personal letters since October 2015.
Participants are invited to a creative tactics training workshop, conducted by the Backbone Campaign at the offices of ProgressOhio, 35 E. Gay St, Ste. 404. Backbone provides creative strategies, artful action support, and convenes training opportunities for change agents across the United States.
link to full press release
