OELC’s Top 10 of 2009 . . . No. 1 . . .

The moment you all have been waiting for, Number One in this countdown of environmental achievements and mishaps of the past year . . . No. 1 — Ohio Environmental Council’s Legal Division becomes the William W. Ellis Ohio Environmental Law Center OK, it maybe a little self-serving, but it is a big deal for [...]

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OELC Top 10 of ’09 … No. 2 – AMP Abandons Coal Plant

No. 2 — AMP proves that Dirty Power Does NOT Equal Cheap Power In November of this year, AMP revealed it will abandon its plans to build a 960 MW coal plant (AMPGS) near Letart Falls in Meigs County. According to the statement, the company said the change in course was the result of an [...]

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OELC Top Ten of ’09: No. 3…Implementing and Enforcing S.B. 221, Ohio’s Landmark Clean Energy Law

The meat of Ohio’s new clean energy law, S.B. 221, is an alternative energy portfolio standard and energy efficiency requirements. The alternative energy portfolio standard mandates that by 2025, 25 percent of the electricity sold within in Ohio must be produced from alternative energy sources, including 12.5 percent renewable energy sources like solar and wind farms. Meanwhile, the energy efficiency provisions [...]

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OELC Top 10 of 2009…No. 4: How to Attack Climate Change & the Regulation of GHGs

The International Climate Conference held in Copenhagen this month yielded a tentative agreement from the 193 participating countries, including the United States, to begin reducing GHG emissions to mitigate the climate crisis. But it’s not clear exactly how the U.S. will achieve the reductions that have been pledged at Copenhagen. Basically, there two very possible [...]

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OELC Top 10 of 2009 … No. 5 Lake Erie Shoreline Decision eviscerates the centuries old “public trust doctrine” and the authority of AG

No. 5 – Lake Erie Boundary Dispute decision – “a trifecta of injustice” for Ohio’s natural resources, its people, and its Top Cop. In the December 2007 Lake County Common Pleas decision in State ex. rel. Robert Merrill v. State of Ohio, the court  redefined the boundary separating public and private property along the Lake [...]

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OELC Top 10 of 2009 … No. 6 – The ERAC Saga

No. 6 – Back-room Budget Bill Amendments, Violations of Due Process, Industry siding with Enviros, two trips to court, and back to status quo at ERAC The saga began with a Budget Bill Conference Committee amendment mandating the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) to issue final orders under strict deadlines. It was one of those [...]

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OELC Top 10 of 2009…No. 7, The Supreme Court’s Year in Review

At the end of every year, it is worthwhile to evaluate the decisions of the highest court in the land.  In 2009, there have been several disappointing decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Several of these rulings will adversely impact environmental law and environmental protection, including decisions related to standing, fifth amendment takings claims, and the [...]

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OELC Top 10 of 2009 . . . No. 8 Ohio’s Air, Land, and Water Resources Gain but also Lose Ground in this Years’ State Budget

No. 8 — Defense on the part of Enviros prevails as lack of money takes on politics in the State Budget Battle A 2009 Top Ten of Environmental Hits and Misses would not be complete without a reference to the State Biennial Operating Budget.  And much like everything in Columbus, even the legislative process takes [...]

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OELC’s Top 10 of 2009 . . . No.9 Ohio at the bottom of CWA Enforcement

No. 9 — New York Times Series on Clean Water Act Enforcement by the States, Shows Ohio Barely reaching the Surface in Water Protection Across the nation, the system that Congress created to protect the nation’s waters under the Clean Water Act of 1972 today often fails to prevent pollution.  Begining with the August 2009 [...]

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OELC’s TOP 10 of 2009 . . . No. 10 Water Rights

This is the first installment in the Ohio Environmental Law Center’s Top 10 of 2009 — The Top Ten Hits (but unfortunately mostly misses) in Environmental and Conservation Law over the past year.  This is a purely OELC subjective look back at 2009 — a look back at the wins and losses for environmental protection [...]

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