Over the past week, Ohioans have experienced the worst air quality in the state’s history, as smoke from Canadian wildfires made its way south. The Canadian Climate Institute attributes the nation’s worsening wildfires to “[a]ccelerating climate change, largely from the burning of fossil fuels.” The United States is the second largest consumer of fossil fuels and the top consumer of fracked gas, and Ohio ranks in the top 10 among U.S. states for coal, gas, and petroleum. As the largest and fastest growing city in Ohio, Columbus has a significant role to play in addressing this global issue.
In 2021, the City of Columbus released its ambitious Climate Action Plan, which included a commitment to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030, in line with climate science. Key to this plan was the Clean Energy Columbus electric aggregation program, with a goal of generating 100 percent renewable energy in the state. Unfortunately, state legislation has made siting solar and wind energy in Ohio almost impossible, so the aggregation program relies on renewable energy certificates for about 57 percent of its goal. Worse, citywide greenhouse gas emissions have actually risen almost 1 million metric tons since 2021, inviting real questions about whether the city can reach its goal of cutting emissions 45 percent by 2030.
In January, Global Energy Monitor reported that the demand for gas-fired power in the United States has nearly tripled in the past two years and more than one-third of this new generation is slated for on-site power for data centers. Ohio already has around 200 data centers, more than half of which are located in central Ohio, and ranks seventh in the nation for energy consumption by data centers, according to ElectricChoice.com. About a dozen more are under construction in central Ohio, and about two dozen more are proposed for the area…