As a young man, I witnessed several environmental disasters in North East Ohio. The pungent smell of hydrogen sulfide, the Cuyahoga River burning, and the death of Lake Erie. These events left an impact on me.

Ohio is working to clean up our state and we have made marvelous strides. We must learn from our past mistakes and luckily technology has caught up with our desires for a cleaner Ohio. As we enter in the 21st century, companies are more green conscious; this is due to customers demanding so with their purchasing rather than governmental influence.

As a Senator, I will never vote for any legislation that will allow for these mistakes to be repeated. But, this is an individual rights issue as well. Our purchasing and values should dictate our behavior, not government force. I strongly oppose governmental schemes such as cap-and-trade and E.P.A. power grabs. 

The American conscience and public attitude will utilize the market place to make our improvements in our environmental efforts permanent for continuing generations of Americans. This I firmly believe in.