Environmental News For The Week Ending 16 May 2019
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at
GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
Covid seemed to drop out of the news this week; usually, I ll see virus stories on news sites most read or recent news lists; this week I had to go looking for them. Part of the reason was that the East Coast fuel pipeline shutdown dominated the headlines, but the underlying reason is that new cases in the US and globally are falling rapidly, even in India. And the news organizations are reluctant to cover a story that bleeds less this week than it did last week.
Ohio speaker s public corruption case tops the nation usatoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usatoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ohio s public corruption case involving $61 million in bribes in exchange for a $1.3 billion bailout is the biggest open investigation in any Statehouse in America surpassing a similar scandal in Illinois and two closed-out cases in New York. Historically, I haven t seen anything like it, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Matthew DeBlauw, who leads the public corruption squad in Columbus. This case is in a league of its own.
So far, five Ohioans have been charged in U.S. District Court with racketeering. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. fired its chief executive and other top managers and lobbyists, disclosed it paid $4.3 million to someone who became an Ohio utility regulator, and is in early talks with federal prosecutors to avoid prosecution. And FBI agents searched the home of then Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chairman Sam Randazzo, who then resigned.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman and Supervisory Special Agent Matthew DeBlauw oversee the biggest public corruption case in the the country right now and the largest in Ohio history.
In July 2020, federal investigators detailed how Akron-based FirstEnergy, its subsidiaries and other energy companies gave nearly $61 million to help elect Rep. Larry Householder, pass House Bill 6 containing $1.3 billion to subsidize two nuclear plants and defend the law against the ballot effort to block it.
Householder, R-Glenford, and four others were indicted. Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges have pleaded not guilty. Lobbyist Juan Cespedes and political strategist Jeff Longstreth pleaded guilty in October. Lobbyist Neil Clark died by suicide in March.