WKSU News: Advocacy group: Ohio could lead in clean energy

Monday, August 17, 2015 Advocacy group: Ohio could lead in clean energy NextGen Climate says focus on state by presidential candidates could make a big difference by WKSU's ANDY CHOW	Reporter Andy Chow

Tom Steyer says the 2016 election is an opportunity for Ohio

Courtesy of Nextgen Climate

Though there’s some controversy in Ohio around energy standards and proposals, a national group calling for attention to climate change says the state has the power to shift federal policy and demand clean energy development. Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports.

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NextGen Climate is calling on all presidential candidates to find a way to power the country with at least 50% coming from clean energy sources by 2030. The group’s President Tom Steyer visited Columbus to tell advocates that Ohio would greatly benefit from this kind of policy change because of the state’s manufacturing capacity, and its role in presidential politics.

“This is a state that has incredible potential and politically is going to be at the center of the world in 2016 whether you like it or not and it’s our really firm intention that this issue be at the center of this political campaign,” said Steyer.

The state had its own green energy standards to reach a certain amount of renewable energy generation and efficiency by 2025 but those standards were frozen for two years by a conservative state legislature. The U.S. EPA is calling for reduced carbon emission standards, but the Ohio EPA wants the courts to review those rules before moving forward with compliance.