After two weeks of negotiations between more than 50 countries, the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) ended last Friday without establishing a High Seas Treaty — once again leaving more than two-thirds of the global ocean unprotected. But important progress was also made, which the Only One community of supporters has helped push for. World leaders are closer than ever before to finalizing the treaty, and there’s reason to be optimistic that the next negotiation will be the last step in the nearly two-decades–long process. We can’t let up the pressure now, and we need you with us! Can you help build momentum for the coalition to protect the High Seas by sharing our petition with your network? We’re just shy of our goal of 75,000 signatures.
Ohioans have the right to fish in clean rivers, to drink clean water, and to raise families without fear of pollution giving our kids asthma, cancer, and other life-altering diseases.
The cost of pollution
In 2020, corporations dumped more toxic pollution into the Ohio River — the source of drinking water for millions of people — than any other watershed in the United States. But instead of taking action to fix this problem, our state government wants to introduce thirty-one new or expanded toxic petrochemical projects in Ohio, infringing on our rights to clean natural resources and healthy conditions for our families. And the pollution is not just dangerous, it’s also expensive — for example, the cost of treating a child with asthma can average out to thousands of dollars each year. Plus, the plants are getting millions of dollars in tax breaks from the government, which means Ohio taxpayers are paying for their profits.
If Anne Vogel — the head of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency — lets companies build more toxic facilities in our communities, she will leave Ohio’s next generations trapped in a polluted future. Join us, and demand that Director Vogel use her powers of office to stop this reckless expansion in our state.
Toxic industry’s big lie: Chemical recycling
Many of the proposed plants would do something called chemical recycling — but this name is completely misleading. Chemical recycling is not recycling; instead, it uses chemicals or high heat to break down plastic and other waste products.
In Mahoning County, for example, a company called SOBE Thermal Energy Solutions wants to shred and melt millions of tires, electronic waste, and plastic, releasing cancer-causing chemicals and heavy metals directly into the air in a densely populated community just blocks away from local schools. This is extremely dangerous: Even low levels of exposure to these toxins can cause neurological damage in children, leading to cognitive dysfunction, lower IQ, and lifelong behavioral issues. Similar projects are moving forward in Summit, Licking, and Lawrence counties.
A disaster waiting to happen
Another proposed buildout — at the Nutrien Lima Nitrogen Plant — would produce thousands of tons of ammonia every day, and could pose an explosion risk to the residents of Lima, Ohio. As the second-largest producer of synthetic fertilizers in the United States, Nutrien's expansion would only increase the amount of pollution and runoff that contaminates the waterways residents depend on.
Your voice matters
We reject this dangerous industrial wave in our home state, where it threatens Ohioans’ health, and puts our priceless land, air and water at risk. Join us, and add your name to the petition calling on Director Vogel to stop the expansion of toxic plants that want to pollute Beautiful Ohio.
