Drill Buckeye Drill

Fresh off turning down hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars that would have created thousands of Ohio jobs and a green rail line from Cincy to Cleveland because it would be "a trap", incoming Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich says it's time to drill in Ohio state parks and the Great Lakes for oil and gas.

In announcing his appointees to run the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Natural Resources yesterday, Gov.-elect John Kasich used one word over and over: business.

"These departments are going to send a message to Ohio that we are open for business," Kasich said in naming Scott Nally of Indiana as head of the EPA and former American Electric Power executive David Mustine as director of Natural Resources.

Kasich, a former Republican congressman who will take office Jan. 10, emphasized that he doesn't plan to empower business at "the cost of environmental degradation." But in the next breath, he said he wants to "exploit the wonders of our state."

"When you have something that's really valuable, use it," he said in a briefing at the Rhodes Tower. That includes drilling for oil and gas in state parks and on state land, he said. But he was cautious when asked about drilling in Lake Erie.

"Lake Erie is a jewel," Kasich said. "When it comes to Lake Erie, we're going to be extremely careful."

You know, just like BP was extremely careful.  One of Kasich's campaign promises was to in fact ban drilling along Lake Erie.  I bet that promise will be kept any day now.  The Marcellus shale field in eastern Ohio, WV, Pennsylvania and western NY could be very profitable too...at the expense of major environmental impact along those areas, particularly to the water table.

Ohio is "open for business" but at what environmental cost?  Kasich doesn't even seem to care.  He just promises to "be careful".