Proponent Testimony on HB 278
House Health and Family Services Committee

Presented by
Kristin Clingan
Director of Environmental Policy
Ohio Chamber of Commerce

March 10, 2004

Chairman Mumper and members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of House Bill 278. My name is Kristin Clingan, and I am the Director of Environmental Policy for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. With 4,000 members, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce is the largest and most diverse statewide business advocacy group.

As you have heard in other testimony including that of one Chamber member, The Timken Company, Ohio businesses have been hit extremely hard by rising energy costs in recent years. It is not uncommon for businesses to cite natural gas among their top three business expenses and report annual increases in their natural gas bill in millions of dollars. Without a doubt, affordable and reliable energy supplies are directly related to the cost of doing business in the state of Ohio, and are essential to our competitiveness and the growth of our economy.

It is also evident that future increases in energy costs will depend largely on our ability to access energy resources closer to home. H.B. 278 provides an opportunity to do that by calling for comprehensive statewide regulations without local barriers to natural gas supplies in the state. The Ohio Chamber supports the move to uniform regulations that will be consistently and predictably applied.

House Bill 278 has been carefully drafted to provide a sound regulatory framework that addresses public health, safety and environmental concerns associated with drilling oil and gas wells, while meeting another important objective of enhancing the ability of Ohio to meet Ohio's growing energy needs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.