Dressed as citizen referees, activists “blew the whistle” on the gas industry’s influence over the Ohio legislature. Students, farmers, and concerned citizens from central Ohio overwhelmed an Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee hearing yesterday, frustrated with the deliberate stonewalling of six bills to slow or halt fracking and injection waste and the repression of the public’s voice on this critical issue.

In what activists deemed to be an effort to quell resistance, the Ohio House pushed back the hearings of the six bills for hours until many activists could no longer stay. Activists believe the delay on hearings of these bills is directly linked with the $2.8 million the Gas Industry has poured into the Ohio Legislature, including $213,000 in campaign contributions allotted to Governor Kasich.

“As a student at Ohio State, I felt called to participate in this action.  Just as the administration at Ohio State isn’t honoring the voices of students in their decision to frack on university land, our representatives aren’t honoring the voices of distressed citizens across Ohio. They demonstrated their preference for the gas industry today in further delaying the hearing on bills that would slow or put a halt to toxic fracking operations in our state” said OSU junior, Adrian Jusdanis after the action.

Our democracy has been co-opted by corporate interests, and it could not have been more clear than in yesterday’s action. The long awaited first “hearing” of these bills did not even give an opportunity for public comment. BUT we are taking it back, and today WE do have an opportunity to be heard, PLEASE MAKE A CALL! For more information: http://on.fb.me/JfMhyv