Oil Wells In State Parks?

Buster told you about this a couple weeks ago. Now that the Kasich Krew has actually taken office, it's a step closer to reality.

Kasich's director of Natural Resources is an oil industry hack named David Mustine. He says he's "open" to the idea of allowing oil and gas wells to be drilled in Ohio's state parks and other public lands. This is a reversal of long-standing ODNR policy. Because the state might make a bit of money from such wells, Mustine says it could help reduce the budget deficit.

Bullshit! The R's will now try to justify every hair-brained scheme as a way to cut the deficit. In this instance, Ohio would not make that much at all. Those who'd really get rich would be Mustine's old buddies in the oil and gas industry. Fuck them!

Check out the graphic above, showing the area around Salt Fork State Park. Every little black dot marks the location of an existing oil or gas well. (Those within the park were drilled before the state bought the land in 1960.) That's a hell of a lot of wells! But not nearly enough to suit the oil companies. They won't be happy until they fill in the blanks and completely cover Salt Fork with their goddam little black dots. This is just so wrong on so many levels.

Tom Stewart, an industry lobbyist and adviser to Mustine, has said that opening up our public lands to oil and gas leases will "take the burden off the taxpayer and make these properties support themselves." Hmm. That's an interesting way of looking at it. (Make that lazy property get up off its ass and get a job!) Let's start by making John Kasich's property support itself by drilling a bunch of wells in his backyard! Do that first and have John-Boy report back to us.