Ohio plan: Ally with drillers against ‘eco-left’

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A strategic plan drafted by Ohio regulators in 2012 would have discredited environmental groups and state lawmakers opposed to drilling in state parks and forests with help from energy company Halliburton, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an industry association.

The plan, contained in a document released to The Associated Press, anticipated that the “eco-left” would try to slant news coverage, incite public panic over health risks and physically halt drilling.

An Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesman said Friday the agency never followed through on the strategy.

The plan would have enlisted “allied groups” that included Halliburton, state, national and local chambers and the Ohio Oil and Gas Association to combat efforts by environmentalists and Democratic state lawmakers.

The director of liberal think tank ProgressOhio called the plan “Nixonian.”