Ohio Legislature Votes To Weaken State’s Renewable Energy Law

June 24, 2014- The Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill in May that would roll back the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency law, making Ohio the first state to reverse standards meant to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The Ohio legislature approved the renewable energy and efficiency standards in 2008, but opponents of the measure have been trying to roll them back for several years.

The new measure would pause required increases in renewables and efficiency for two years, and would also weaken the standards when they come back into effect in 2017. The original plan called for a 5.5 percent increase in renewables by 2017, while the revised measure lowers that to a 3.5 percent increase.

Thirty-seven states have some sort of renewable energy standard in place. Conservative and anti-regulatory groups have tried to roll those back in a number of states in recent years, but those efforts have failed.

“This bill tells clean energy companies that Ohio is closed for business at a time when they’re helping the state’s economy rebound," said Jeff Gohringer, national press secretary for the League of Conservation Voters. "The governor has a really clear choice to make on whether Ohio moves forward with the rest of the country on clean energy or forces these companies out of the state."

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