The Mount Vernon City Council has passed a resolution that pledges the city to work to bar the use of so-called "fossil fuels," like natural gas, in the city.
The so-called "Sustainable 2050" resolution was pitched to Mayor Matt Starr by pro-solar energy activists working for the Columbus-based "Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission" (MORPC), which has received federal grant money to promote solar panel development in Knox County.
The resolution passed, five votes to two, at the council's Sept. 28 meeting.
Council members Janis Seavolt, Tammy Woods, Mel Severns, James Mahan and John Ruckman voted for it.
Council members Mike Hillier and Amber Keener voted against it.
By approving the resolution, "Mount Vernon commits to pursue the objectives and initiatives outlined in the (MORPC) program," most centrally replacing demand by city consumers and businesses for natural gas and coal with energy produced by federal government-funded solar panels and wind turbines.
Other "Sustainable 2050" and MORPC initiatives include banning the practice of warming up your car, banning natural gas stoves in Mount Vernon homes, and replacing gas-powered cars with electric ones in the city.
MORPC leaders argue taxpayer-subsidized solar generation of power will be "cheaper" for consumers and better for air quality in central Ohio, which they claim is "polluted" because of agriculture and industry in the area.
Mount Vernon is the 23rd city or town to sign the MORPC pledge. The others are Columbus, Bexley, Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Hilliard, New Albany, Upper Arlington, Dublin, Reynoldsburg, Whitehall and Worthington, all in Franklin County, as well as Lancaster in Fairfield County, Marysville in Union County, Pataskala in Licking County, Plain City in Madison County, Powell and Shawnee Hills in Delaware County, and Somerset in Perry County.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Ohio is one of the nation's top ten natural gas producers; the state accounts for five percent of annual natural gas production and has five percent of the nation's natural gas reserves. It also has four percent of U.S.-estimated recoverable coal reserves.
Approximately 90 percent of electricity generated in Ohio in 2022 came from natural gas or coal. Solar accounted for approximately one percent.
