Trending
As we celebrate the anniversary of our nation's freedom from a monarchy, our country finds itself in a precarious position. It appears that we are now descending into an oligarchy. An oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people; these people being distinguished by characteristics such as fame, wealth, corporate, religious, and political or military control.
The government cited by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address as "of the people, by the people, and for the people" has all but disappeared. Instead, we find in so many areas of our lives, personal control has been usurped by corporations who have been allowed greater rights than "the people".
Historian Eben Moglen said, "from the moment the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868, lawyers for corporations wanted to use that 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection to make sure that the states didn't unequally treat corporations."
Corporations now hold more leverage over our political system than ever before and much of this is due to the Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission Case in 2010. The case basically said, "due to free speech, government is prohibited from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations and PACs. Open Secrets, a research and government transparency group, reported in the past decade since the Citizens United ruling, "election-related spending from non-party independent groups ballooned to $4.5 billion." The two decades prior saw spending just over $750 million.
Open Secrets reported substantial political contributions from the oil and gas industry in 2020. The Republicans in the House of Representatives received $13.6 million while Democrats got $3.5 million. In the Senate, Republicans received $10 million while Democrats got $1.3 million. Now who do these politicians work for? Which bills do they support? You can bet their decisions favor pro-fossil fuel industries. All one has to do is look at the previous bills passed by the Republican politicians in Ohio to realize that they are turning a blind eye to human health and the environment and ignoring sustainable development in favor of fossil fuels.
SB 33, also known as the anti-protest bill, was sponsored by Senator Hoagland of Jefferson County and is based on legislation written by the American Legislative Council (ALEC). While it is claimed the bill will protect "critical infrastructure" what it does is make protesting oil and gas facilities, even acts like posting fliers on telephone poles, illegal. I gave in-person testimony at the statehouse concerning this bill and was shocked at the disrespectful actions by Republican politicians towards citizens opposing the bill.
Recently, I along with 27 other citizens, submitted written testimony on HB 282. This bill and its companion bill SB 171 would "enact section 1509.228 of the Revised Code to establish conditions and requirements for the sale of brine from oil or gas operations as a commodity and to exempt that commodity from requirements otherwise applicable to brine." Ohio's DNR announced its opposition to the bill on Tuesday. According to Ohio News Time, in 2017, ODNR tested brine and the product Aqua Salina. Test results showed high levels of carcinogenic Radium-226 and Radium-228. Only the owner of the company that would benefit from selling the waste and the sponsors, including Don Jones of Harrison County, spoke in favor of the bill.
Just this past Monday, Ohio passed SB 52. This bill would prevent wind or solar companies from making application for projects unless the townships set up an energy development district. This means that as few as 50 people in a small township could stop a project even after it is approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board. However, fossil fuel and nuclear projects would be exempt from this law.
In 2015, children between the ages of 8-19 filed a federal lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, in the District of Oregon. The lawsuit basically claims that because of a failure to act on climate change, the plaintiffs are being denied their rights to life and liberty under the constitution. The case has been amended and remains active.
Ansel Adams sums up the dilemma of environmentally conscience citizens in this quote "it is horrifying when you have to fight your own government to save the environment." Unfortunately, this is what we often find ourselves doing; fighting our government on the local, state, and federal levels to represent "we the people" rather than having corporations become their clients. Until we get money out of politics and reverse Citizens United, our struggles to protect our planet and ourselves from the greed of heavily subsidized fossil fuel corporations will continue. Sadly, the scales of justice will remain tipped by corporate dollars.
Randi Jeannine Pokladnik
Uhrichsville