A local activist group, The Bill of Rights Committee, recently asked the Athens County Board of Elections to explain its reasoning for denying the group’s request to put a county-wide fracking ban on the November ballot.
We applaud the group’s civic involvement and desire to affect change about a controversial issue — in this case, a natural gas drilling method that many say could contaminate the environment.
But the activists’ way of trying to make a difference is a bit like trying to push through a door marked “pull.”
Under state law, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has “exclusive authority” to regulate oil and gas wells.
“The regulation of oil and gas activities is a matter of general statewide interest that requires uniform statewide regulation,” according to Ohio Revised Code 1509.02.
Whether you agree with that assertion or not, it’s the law. Enacting a county-level law will not hold much weight when a drilling company comes to town with a state-approved permit in hand.
It’s obviously a symbolic move that would draw attention to the issue and firmly express the opinion of the people of Athens County.
Granted, there have been seemingly successful challenges to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution in past months: Colorado and Washington passed laws allowing recreational marijuana use in November.
But, in the case at hand, Ohio’s legislators seem pretty supportive of fracking. Republican Gov. John Kasich wanted to increase taxes on the drillers, but his statehouse colleagues removed the tax hikes from the state’s biennial budget.
That’s not to say we are condemning efforts to challenge current law or to question the positions of legislators. But there are ways to do that. In fact, opponents to Senate Bill 5 repealed the law, which limited collective bargaining rights of public employees, through a statewide issue in 2011.
State legislators are tasked with representing the interests of their constituents. And, when those elected officials inevitably misstep their bounds, avenues exist for the masses to override them.
The solution is not to attempt to subvert the system and, when county officials seemingly defer to state law, pester them with requests for obvious rationales.
It would be a better use of the group’s time, efforts and resources to pursue the alternative routes — from contacting your state-level legislators to pushing for a referendum — that already exist.
That should at least get you through the door.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
