Bob Fitrakis
Aug, 3, 2014
In response to the water crisis in Toledo this weekend, Ohio Green Party Lt. Governor candidate Bob Fitrakis says that Ohio must move away from petrochemical fertilizers and adopt a new green agricultural economy.
“The harmful algae bloom has been going for more than decade and has gotten substantially worse under Kasich’s administration” Fitrakis said. According to the Ohio Sea Grant college program, during Kasich’s first year, 2011, the algae bloom was rated at its most severe — ranking 10 on a 10 point scale.
The poisonous toxins that have shut down the use of tap water in four Ohio counties and stopped the flow of water for half a million people in the Toledo area are primarily caused by commercial fertilizer runoff from factories and farmer’s fields. This situation has put Lake Erie at risk, just like it was back in the 1970s.
The Green Party calls for new regulations that would halt the flow of phosphorus from fertilizers into Lake Erie and incentives for Ohio farmers to adopt organic agriculture methods. Instead of spending millions of dollars to clean poisonous water we need to subsidize farmers to go green. We need to create a buffer zone to protect the Lake Erie ecosystem from those that spew chemicals without regard to people’s right to drinking water.
The polluters must be fined and forced to pay the cost of the cleanup. Local communities must be allowed to sue the polluters and send those to jail who are knowingly spewing these toxins.
We applaud the people of Mansfield who passed a Community Bill of Rights that guarantees clean air and clean water, and support the efforts to pass a Columbus Community Bill of Rights. We are calling upon the people of Toledo to adopt the same kind of Community Bill of Rights.
But, if voters want to send John Kasich a message this fall, they need to support the Green Party that will take on these polluters and put positive solutions in place.
On people’s right to clean water, Kasich has been a complete failure. Not only has he allowed the people of Toledo to be afflicted by toxic water, he has also permitted radioactive fracking water to be dumped in our state from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.