by Sara Dorn GATES MILLS, Ohio — Gates Mills residents are joining what’s become a nationwide movement and petitioning to have a bill of rights placed on the November ballot that would attempt to ban more oil and gas wells. The state has exclusive rights to regulate oil and gas drilling, so Mayor Shawn Riley believes local legislation — like a bill of rights — would have little to no effect. Instead, Riley wants property owners to pool their land, decide if and where hydrauli

by Laura Arenschield No one is fracking in Columbus, and no one is injecting fracking wastewater into the ground here. But some grass-roots environmental activists are taking no chances. A group is collecting signatures to get a Community Bill of Rights on the Columbus ballot in May. If it passes, the bill would change Columbus’ city charter to block activities that could pollute drinking water and air. It’s a legal tactic that some communities across the nation have used to

On Election Day, four Ohio cities will vote on ballot initiatives that would empower their citizens to ban fracking activities within their city limits: Kent, Youngstown, Gates Mills and Athens. Drafted by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), these Community Bill of Rights initiatives would codify community rights to self-governance and a healthy environment. Voters in Yellow Springs, Mansfield, Oberlin, and Broadview Heights passed similar city ordinances

by Matthew Merchant With signs raised high and voices echoing, anti-fracking demonstrators rallied and marched from the streets of downtown Kent to Kent State’s campus Saturday to raise awareness for Issue 21, a proposed anti-fracking law on the Nov. 4 ballot. As part of the Global Frackdown, an international day of advocacy aimed at raising awareness of local fracking operations of oil and gas companies, the Kent Environmental Rights Group rallied, marched and painted the ro

by Andrea Germanos Environmental groups and concerned community members have taken to the streets in their fight to stop fracking—an extraction process they say threatens environmental and public health. But the issue has made its way to the ballot as well; in communities in California, Ohio and Texas, voters have a chance to enact fracking bans on November 4. “People are waking up to the risks,” Susie Beiersdorfer, a member of the bill of rights committee in Youngstown, Ohio

With a record number of fracking issues on local ballots in California, Texas and Ohio, the outcome was decidedly mixed. Of the eight measures—three in California, four in Ohio and one in Texas—four passed and four failed. The biggest victory came in Denton in north Texas, located atop the lucrative Barnett shale play. After citizens demanded action from city council on a fracking ban and council punted last July, the issue went to the ballot where it passed last night. “As I