Ohioans Fight Back Against High Prices at the Pump

Beginning August 29th, Sherrod crisscrossed the state talking about the importance of turning Ohio into the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.  Throughout the campaign, he has now met with small business owners affected by rising energy costs and entrepreneurs investing in alternative energy in Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Youngstown.

At Tuesday's event, Sherrod met with Len Bleh, the owner of Avril and Bleh Meat Market, whose suppliers are charging a fuel surcharge that is hurting Len's business.  Restaurants, caterers, and food suppliers are some of the businesses hardest hit by rising energy prices.  Steve Melink, CEO of Melink Corporation, spoke about his efforts to help local businesses hold their energy costs down by producing energy efficient technology. Instead of providing incentives for entrepreneurs to invest in efficient technology, Mike DeWine voted for an energy bill that gave billions of dollars to oil and gas companies that took the money and then raised energy prices.

Howard Wilkinson wrote about the event in the Enquirer and got Sherrod's response to Mike DeWine's latest attempt to distort the facts and smear Sherrod.

Wednesday morning, Sherrod visited the Second Street Public Market in Dayton, where dozens of vendors sell everything from flowers to baskets to produce.  Ron Keucher, a baker who serves 40 restaurants and area businesses, said he has lost $5,000 to rising gas prices this year and is hoping for new leadership that will help him bring his costs down, instead of helping oil companies reap bigger profits.  Thomas Willis of Precision Eenrgy and Technology spoke about his efforts to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and lower energy prices by investing in hydrogen fuel cell technology.  Dave Greber of the Dayton Daily News wrote a story giving Sherrod's new energy vision more ink than DeWine's same day Dayton meet-and-greet.
 
It wouldn't be a political campaign without a visit to the county fair.  Sherrod traveled to the Canfield Fair in Mahoning County on Thursday, to meet with supporters at the Democratic Party tent and farmers who are producing biodiesel.  Sherrod is no stranger to the county fair - even as a State House candidate he would camp out at the fair to meet voters.   The Canfield Fair was expected to draw 400,000 visitors throughout the weekend.
 
Joe Logan, the head of the Ohio Farmers Union, joined Sherrod to talk about how soybeans aren't merely a food product, but they can be burned as fuel.  Giving farmers the tools to convert their crops to produce fuel could help turn Ohio's economy around.    Jeanne Starmack from the Youngstown Vindicator wrote about Sherrod's efforts to encourage federal investments in Ohio's alternative energy programs.
 
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop for the fair's famous deep fried oreos, but we did manage to grab an elephant ear on the way out just as the 4H King and Queen were being crowned.  We're happy to report, they taste as good they did at the fair 25 years ago.

09/04/2006 / Permalink / gas, (all tags)