Is fracking governor’s trump card?

COLUMBUS

Gov. John Kasich has a lot riding on horizontal hydraulic fracturing.

The entire state does, too — that’s a given.

After years of declines in manufacturing, Ohio apparently stands on the precipice of great economic opportunity.

If you believe the studies, the emergence of fracking to extract oil and natural gas from shale formations deep underground across much of the eastern part of the state could mean more than 200,000 new jobs and more than $20 billion in economic impact over the next four years.

Restaurants will be packed, stores will have a hard time stocking shelves to meet consumer demand and the housing market will flourish again — particularly in Ohio’s Appalachian communities, which have long suffered while other areas have prospered.

“It means that people in the eastern part of this state, who have been living in many ways in poverty with the shutdown of great industrial production in Ohio, they may have another chance,” Kasich said last week during a two-day energy summit in Columbus. “The Lord may have placed deposits in the eastern part of this state that can be properly mined that bring great prosperity to the people who, they don’t have much.”

Again, that’s if you believe the studies.

“When you think about Marcellus and particularly Utica shale in the eastern part of this state, it’s unbelievable,” Kasich said. “I’m not sure what to believe. .... [One industry official] tells me it’s the richest find in America.”

Hitting it big

There are already stories circulating in some communities of landowners being paid $5,000 an acre for the right to drill on their properties. By all accounts, there will be more stories of individuals and businesses hitting it big when the hydraulic fracturing crowd hits town.

Back to Kasich. Recent polls put his approval rating at around 35 percent, with many more Ohioans not happy about his actions since taking office in January.

Then there’s the whole Senate Bill 5 fight, with opponents of the controversial collective bargaining package calling November’s Issue 2 a referendum on the governor.

Unemployment has inched up for three consecutive months (though the significance of those numbers is debatable).

The Republican-controlled Legislature and Kasich have moved on controversial legislation that has prompted citizen outcries and referendum efforts.

And there are a lot of people who are tired of Kasich’s sometimes-off-the-cuff manner of addressing crowds.

But we’re in the first year of his four-year term. If fracking ends up being as big as many people think, then Ohioans likely will forget about Kasich’s public missteps during his first 12 months.

Governors take the blame when unemployed residents can’t find jobs. They take the accolades when large numbers of those same people end up in good-paying positions.

Instead of being remembered for his comments on “idiot” cops and buses or for signing controversial legislation over the objections of voters, Kasich could end up the hero who ushered Ohio through a gold rush, with better days ahead.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.