Ohio business leader Mike Hartley, who serves as executive director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum, called for conservatives to come to the table and for both sides of the energy divide to embrace solutions good for business and the economy in the Buckeye State.
“We need a new path. We need a policy framework that fosters innovation, encourages new investment and sets the right market signals. If we’re successful in achieving this, we can have a new policy that establishes an all-of-the-above generation portfolio, lowers the cost of electricity, creates jobs and makes Ohio an even more attractive place for businesses,” Hartley wrote in an opinion essay. He went on to cite major companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google that might want to locate facilities in Ohio.
“These billion-dollar investments utilize a lot of electricity and these companies want to power these facilities with renewable energy because it makes smart economic sense. An Amazon official who testified recently in Ohio about the state’s current wind setback policy said the only thing holding the state back is its energy policy,” according to Hartley. “We can create the right market-based clean energy policy framework that will attract these cutting-edge tech companies, strengthen our economy, control electricity costs and protect our natural resources in Ohio.”
As Hartley noted, “Republican leaders have been at the forefront of the country’s most significant policies. Yet, when it comes to our energy future, we’ve allowed the debate to be dominated by the left. Not only has this fueled the hyperpartisanship we see today, it also has failed to deliver a comprehensive energy plan that creates market and protects our economic and national security interests.”
The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum was established to seek balance between the state’s historic energy strengths and advancement in clean and renewable energy and energy efficiency policies.