"John Kasich's Democratic Challenger Makes Energy Rollbacks A Big Deal"

"Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Friday signed into law a contentious bill the legislature passed last month rolling back state renewable energy standards.

His Democratic challenger in this fall's governor's race, Ed FitzGerald, thinks he can make the subject key in his case against Kasich. The reversal on energy policy, FitzGerald said in an interview with The Huffington Post, is "a very big deal."

"There really was a bipartisan consensus in this state that it made sense to support the encouragement of clean and renewable energy," said FitzGerald, reflecting on the near-unanimity on renewable energy and energy efficiency standards when they were passed into law in 2008.

The new law, SB 310, which passed the legislature last month, freezes the mandated increases in renewables and efficiency for two years, then reduces the standards when they come back into effect. "

Kate Sheppard reports for Huffington Post June 13, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Ohio Governor Signs Bill Freezing Renewable-Energy Standards" (Washington Post)