Much of our recent discussion here at Dailykos has revolved around the end of the presidential primary season, the start of the presidential general election campaign, and the various competitive Senate races across the country. Some of our more substantive discussion has focused on the inaction and obstruction of congressional Republicans or the various inane actions of state-level Republicans. But, precious little of our energy has been spent thinking about how our Democrats in state legislatures are acting. And, unfortunately, here in Ohio, some of our legislative Democrats just failed a BIG test. Please read on for a discussion of House Concurrent Resolution 29 and how 7 of our legislative Democrats just did the bidding of national Republicans, climate change deniers, and big polluters.
Let’s start with some background. On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced a revolutionary Clean Power Plan that aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 32%. Such a reduction in emissions will save lives, create green sector jobs, and save consumers money. More importantly, it will help to stem the tide of climate change, as 82% of current greenhouse gas pollution comes from carbon dioxide. For some more information on the White House's plan, please click here. The plan primarily achieves its carbon emissions reduction through tighter standards for the nation’s power plants. Ultimately, the plan will lead to less reliance on dirty power sources, including coal.
Progressives and pro-environment have extolled the virtue of President Obama’s plan. The Environmental Defense Fund has come out in support of the plan. Link. More businesses are coming around to support the plan. Link. Paul Krugman supports it, as do the leaders of the House Progressive Caucus.
But, of course, the Republicans don’t agree. Twenty-nine states are suing the Obama Administration over the plan, including my home state, claiming that the plan violates the EPA’s administrative authority. Mitch McConnell has sent a letter to states telling them to stop their plans to implement the clean power plan. Major players in the energy sector, particularly the coal industry, have predictably set up strong opposition efforts to the plan, including joining in the lawsuit .
A critical prong of this opposition effort had made its way to our state legislatures. Here, in Ohio, the effort has taken the form of a concurrent resolution that expresses the General Assembly’s disapproval of the clean power plan. Here's some of the odious, and misleading, language that is contained in the resolution:
Whereas, Ohio’s existing coal power plant fleet is a vital economic resource representing billions of dollars in public and private investments over the past century . . . The existing coal power plant fleet ensures the available of reliable abundant, and low-cost electricity critical to Ohio’s economy and especially in the continued revival of the manufacturing industry in Ohio; and
Whereas, . . . the USEPA’s Clean power Plan irreconcilably conflicts with Ohio’s energy policy as determined and enacted by the Ohio General Assembly and usurps the authority of the General Assembly to establish Ohio’s energy policy going forward; and
Whereas, the USEPA lacks the legal authority to establish Ohio’s energy policy under federal law and the United States Constitution, including the Tenth Amendment, which reserves powers to the states[.]
See the full resolution's text here. Due to this litany of horribles, the members of the General Assembly officially declared their opposition to the plan and ordered that their disapproval be sent to the White House, Congress, and the EPA.
There’s a lot to like in this resolution, if you’re a climate-change denying Republican. Indeed, it really checks off almost every box in the conservative’s list. It says that coal is critical to the state economy and that the state should follow an “all of the above" energy policy (meaning primarily coal and oil, maybe some wind and solar if some company wants to stake out and do it by itself). It says that the EPA is usurping state power and violating its administrative authority. And, it cites to the paragon of virtue — the Tenth Amendment.
Which makes the result of the vote on this idiotic resolution all the more confusing to me. Due to gerrymandering, the current partisan breakdown in the House of Representatives is 65 Republicans to 34 Democrats (despite the fact that state is evenly-divided in presidential and senatorial elections). So, of course, I would expect the resolution to pass. However, I was shocked and disappointed to see that 7 of our House Democrats decided to make common cause with the climate change deniers, national Republicans, and the energy companies. They are listed below, along with the Obama vote in their district:
Representative |
Obama Vote % |
Martin Sweeney |
63% |
Nicholas Celebreeze |
59% |
Stephen Slesnick |
64% |
John Boccieri |
51% |
John Rogers |
54% |
Sean O’Brien |
61% |
Michael O’Brien |
59% |
These 7 Ohio House Democrats let us down. They failed us and their constituents who supported President Obama while giving comfort to enemies of the environment and the Republican Party.
If you live in Ohio, please email these seven representatives and ask for their explanation. I particularly want to hear the explanation of my state representative, Martin Sweeney. He has the second-highest Obama performing district in this list yet voted to cut down the President's signature energy proposal. Perhaps his campaign contributions from the energy sector had something to do with it.
If you live elsewhere, please keep tabs on your legislative Democrats. They very well could be taking unnoticed actions that contradict the core principles of our party and their actions could have a more dramatic effect on your life than the outcome of the Clinton v. Sanders primary.