Members of an environmentally conscious advocacy group, Environment Ohio, gathered at the Ohio Statehouse on Friday to rally in favor of President Barack Obama’s energy reform plan.
“Now more than ever, we need our leadership to stand up for what the citizens of Ohio are asking for: action on clean energy and global warming,” Geoff Greenfield, president of the Athens-based Third-Sun Solar, said in a news release.
About 200 people showed up to the event, according to the release.
Obama’s plan to regulate carbon emissions from new and existing power plants includes increasing drilling domestically for oil, increasing the use of green energy and increasing efficiency standards.
“Children and families live on the front lines when it comes to pollution and hazardous chemicals,” Mike Piepsny, executive director of Environmental Health Watch, said in the release. “Every day, we see how safeguards and regulations make their day-to-day living conditions safer and cleaner.”
Environment Ohio singled out Sen. Rob Portman and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio as those they are encouraging to join the president’s plan.
Portman, a Republican, has had a mixed record when it comes to voting on environmental issues. He supported a bill that would prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from approving genetically modified fish, but he also supported the Keystone XL pipeline.
Brown, the state’s Democratic senator, has voted in support of some environmentally friendly bills, such as the Energy Act of 2007, which increased requirements for fuel economy in cars, among other reforms.
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This article originally appeared in print with the headline "Activists gather to support energy plan."
