By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
With the backdrop of a massive pink inflatable pig, protesters gathered Monday in Bowling Green’s Wooster Green to take aim at Ohio’s “nuclear bailout” bill.
Bowling Green has a vested interest in the pork of House Bill 6. The city has put millions of dollars into renewable energy – by erecting the first wind turbines for municipal power, and by building the largest solar field in Ohio.
HB 6 will gut subsidies for green power like hydroelectric, solar and wind – while providing subsidies for nuclear and coal power.
“This bill is very, very damaging to cities like Bowling Green,” Mayor Dick Edwards said as he stood in the shadow of the giant pig. “We’re looking after the best interests of the citizens of Bowling Green.”
The bill would require every Ohio household and business to pay an energy tax to bailout the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants. The bill also provides subsidies for two old coal plants, one in Indiana, while repealing Ohio’s renewable energy and efficiency standards.
Bowling Green officials estimate the legislation would cost the city $400,000 a year.
Supporters of renewable energy see HB 6 as a step backwards for Ohio. And Bowling Green leaders see it as the state changing the rules after encouraging communities to invest in green energy.
Bowling Green now receives 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources. And the state’s green energy standards have allowed the city to sell its extra clean energy to communities that weren’t producing green energy on their own. But under HB 6, those standards would disappear.
“We’ve invested heavily in this,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to do the right thing.”
The mayor expressed his dismay that so far the state legislative process has been unwilling to listen to opposition against the bill.
“Any opposition was completely shut down,” he said. “We’re so hopeful in the Senate, some of our voices will be heard.”
Bowling Green City Council has already passed a resolution against HB 6. And on Monday, several council members attended the rally to continue their fight.
“Bowling Green has spent decades and millions of dollars on renewable energy,” council member Bruce Jeffers said. The legislation will not only hurt the city’s current efforts to sell its green energy credits, but it will also harm its plans for a second solar field.
“We are having the rug pulled out on us,” Jeffers said. “We need to be able to sell our renewable energy credits.”
Council member John Zanfardino pointed out that Ohio ranks 49th of U.S. states for renewable energy. The only state with a worse record is Delaware, he said.
Zanfardino also noted the shift in national and state policies – against green energy.
“Pretty much we’re down to local efforts,” he said.
Council member Mark Hollenbaugh agreed.
“As a council, we understand that the city of Bowling Green is going to move forward with renewable energy, regardless of what the state does,” he said.
Meanwhile, those supporting the nuclear bailout are airing “slickly-produced commercials,” Hollenbaugh said.
Council member Sandy Rowland stressed that local residents and businesses will be hit with the bailout.
“Businesses and individuals are going to have to pay the price,” she said. Moreover, the state is moving backwards with coal and nuclear power. “Do we really think that’s the answer?”
Edwards said the city’s stance is not left leaning.
“We’re not an extreme voice in any shape or form,” the mayor said, noting the city’s bipartisan support for renewable energy. “Saving our environment is a conservative thing to do.”
The keepers of the giant inflatable pig, Ohio Citizen Action, asked citizens at Monday’s rally to contact State Senator Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, and Gov. Mike DeWine to voice opposition to HB 6.
The Ohio Senate is taking up the bill this week, and will hear opposition testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Rachael Belz, executive director of Ohio Citizen Action.
“You will pay through your bills. You will pay through lost savings,” Belz said.
One of those testifying will be local Green Party leader Joe DeMare, from Bowling Green.
“Nuclear power is inherently immoral,” he said. And despite critics claiming green energy isn’t reliable, DeMare plans to testify otherwise.
“They are here. They are ready,” he said of wind and solar power. Germany is in the process of shutting down its nuclear and coal power sources, to go completely with renewable energy, he said.
“If this bill passes, it will take us back to the 1950s,” DeMare said. “People who care about the future stand against this bill.”
Bowling Green officials felt their concerns were ignored by State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg. The mayor had written a letter to Ghanbari explaining Bowling Green’s long-term financial decisions regarding its power supply resources.
But Ghanbari voted in favor of HB 6.
City officials hope their words carry more weight with Gavarone as the bill proceeds to the Senate. Earlier this month, Gavarone said she would have to review the version of the bill passed by the House. “The bill will undergo intense scrutiny in the Senate,” she said.
Though a former Bowling Green City Council member, Gavarone is now in a different position since she not only represents Bowling Green, but her district also includes Davis Besse nuclear power plant.
“I’m hearing from constituents all over,” she said.
