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Gerrymandering, solar fields and other fun stuff

Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Could it be that Highland County's representative in the Ohio House is the sacrificial lamb in the ongoing gerrymandering, er, redistricting saga?

At first glance, I thought it was possible. Let me explain.

The House map presented this week shows a 54-45 GOP advantage in the House and an 18-15 advantage in the Senate. While 19 of the Democratic House districts and seven in the Senate are considered competitive political “toss-ups,” none of the Republican districts are, with all of them having a Republican advantage more than 52%.

As previously reported, 91st House District Rep. Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro, announced late last year that he was not running for a third term in his very safe House district. Instead, he is running for the 17th Senate District.

The current 17th District senator, Bob Peterson, also a Republican, is term-limited in the state Senate. After a failed congressional race, Peterson is running for Wilkin's 91st District seat.

As things stood when Wilkin and Peterson announced their plans for 2022, the 17th Ohio Senate District encompassed Clinton, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Pike and Ross counties as well as portions of Lawrence, Pickaway and Vinton counties. The 91st Ohio House District included Clinton, Highland and Pike counties, as well as a portion of Ross County.

This week, however, the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed a third round of legislative maps on Feb. 24. In both proposals, rock-solid Republican Clinton County would no longer be in either the 17th Senate District or the 91st House District.

In the commission's proposal, Clinton County would move to the 10th Senate District and the 71st House District. In future elections, the loss of Clinton County Republican voters would have a far greater impact on Wilkin's Senate campaigns than on Peterson's House races.

The proposed 17th Senate District now includes Highland, Fayette, Ross, Pike, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Gallia and Lawrence counties. Upon first glance, I would have guessed that six of these nine counties leaned Democratic. Maybe that's my old brain thinking of how things aligned decades ago. But after looking up voter turnout records from 2020, it seems most of these southeast Ohio counties have moved to the right or center-right.

If so, Wilkin should safely win Peterson's seat. Obviously, Peterson will have no problem winning the 91st House seat. That brings up another question: Who was the last Democrat to represent Highland County in the Ohio House?

My first guess is Harry Malott, who was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1973-90. (Maybe Bill Fawley can weigh in with the right answer with his institutional knowledge of Ohio politics.)

* * *

• After seeing firsthand the "progress" of industrial strength solar fields covering thousands of erstwhile prime farmland in Highland County, a few thoughts come to mind.

First, how much longer will politicians continue to claim that "agriculture is Highland County's No. 1 industry." (Frankly, I've never thought of agriculture as an industry, but I digress.)

Second, most of the solar-generated energy from Highland County will be used elsewhere to aid woke cities and corporations as they seek a more perfect ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) score. By the way, the ESG score is all about perception and has nothing to do with reality. The ESG score is, simply put, a measure of how it is perceived to be performing on a wide range of environmental, social and governance topics. An entity may appear to have a strong policy around carbon emissions and waste reduction, but if accurate information is not in the public domain, it won’t impact its ESG score. (Think John Kerry or Ozone Al Gore flying around on private jets.)

Third, what is the real carbon footprint of these thousands of acres of farmland that are being converted to industrial solar fields? Each week, I watch the "progress" of these developments, from U.S. 62 south to Seamer Road to S.R. 138 to Hollowtown Road to New Market Road to Stringtown Road and on and on.

This is what I see. Hundreds of gasoline-powered and diesel-powered vehicles from bulldozers to heavy earthmovers to four-wheel drive trucks and utility vehicles.

Pro-solar and pro-wind factions admit that when companies or cities around the world say they are committed to use “100 percent renewable energy,” that does not mean “100-percent carbon-free energy.”

No kidding.

Seeing thousands of acres being devoted to solar panel fields may be a good thing. But I seriously doubt it. The carbon footprint of hundreds of vehicles from semis to dump trucks to earthmovers, to say nothing of their greenhouse gases and the hundreds of outhouse gases with the portable crappers popping up along the aforementioned roadways, will take years and years to offset.

And then what? What happens after the solar panels no longer generate the promised results? Will a Cincinnati mayor show up on Stringtown Road and apologize? No.

The reality is that Highland County has become Ohio's solar energy capital. Let the sun shine in on those in public office who profiteered from this transition from agriculture being everyone's business to solar panels being everyone's business.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.

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