The head of Ohio’s state Environmental Protection Agency is resigning. The governor of the state wants his resignation because of pressure from the coal industry. George Elmaraghy, who has served in the Ohio state EPA for 39 years, explained in an email to his staff that the coal industry wants “permits that may have a negative impact on Ohio’s streams and wetlands and violate state and federal laws. Now, due to this situation, the governor’s office and the director have asked me to resign my position.” The full text of the letter can be found here.
John Kasich, a member of the GOP who became governor of Ohio in 2011, has received large campaign donations from coal companies. Since he started his gubernatorial campaign in 2009, Ohio’s King Coal has donated almost one million dollars to statewide and legislative candidates. The Lion's share of that money came from just two coal companies: Boich Companies and Murray Energy.
It looks like Elmaraghy is a man who does his job. Environmental interests describe him as fair-minded. It also looks like the big dollars of King Coal gets them what they want, too.
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