Sutton touts green jobs, protecting Lake Erie

SANDUSKY — The Cordray-Sutton campaign believes Ohio should move to increase investment in green energy to generate good paying jobs, Betty Sutton said Tuesday during a campaign stop in Sandusky.Ohio ranks just 38th among the states in renewable energy production, Sutton said."We believe, Rich and I, that that is unacceptable," she said.Speaking at Lions Park with Lake Erie in the backdrop, Sutton said she and Richard Cordray also support keeping Lake Erie healthy and supporting a clean environment.Cordray, the Democratic nominee for governor, will face off this fall against a Republican ticket of Mike DeWine for governor and Jon Husted for lieutenant governor. Sutton, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is a former member of Congress.Sutton came to Sandusky to tout the campaign's message that she and Cordray favor an "all of the above" approach to energy development in Ohio.When asked about a couple of local energy issues, Sutton said the campaign has taken no position on First Energy's threat to close or sell the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County.Sutton also didn't take a position on the wind industry's efforts to ease setback requirements for wind turbines, a change opposed by wind turbine foes who worry about the machines' effects on birds near Lake Erie.She said the campaign does support building up wind energy."Of course, we have to do it in a way that is sensible," she said.A spokesman for the DeWine campaign didn't have any immediate specific comments on Davis-Besse or wind turbines, but gave a general statement on energy policy."Reliable, low-cost energy for consumers should always be the driver of policy - the answer should never be to have the government pick winners and losers in the economy. Instead, Mike DeWine supports an all-of-the-above, diverse energy strategy for Ohio," spokesman Joshua Eck said. Sandusky's ex officio mayor, Dennis Murray Jr., and city engineer, Aaron Klein, gave Sutton a tour of work that's been done at Lions Park on Sandusky's west side.They pointed out that Sutton's car was parked in a new permeable parking lot that reduces runoff and that the park has other environmentally friendly features such as low places to divert runoff from washing into the lake. Much of the work was paid for by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, they noted."The Great Lake Restoration Initiative was something that was very important to me when I was in Congress," Sutton said.Lions Park is near the Erie County Health Department. Murray took a moment to walk Sutton to the edge of the park, and pointed out the former Ability Works building, which the health department is working to turn into a housing and treatment for women with addiction disorders."Our health department is making real progress finding ways for treating people," Murray told her.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Sandusky city engineer Aaron Klein explains aspects of Lions Park while touring the park with city ex officio mayor Dennis Murray Jr. and Betty Sutton on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Sandusky. Sutton stopped in Sandusky to campaign.Betty Sutton asks questions about Lions Park to ex-officio Mayor Dennis Murray Jr. on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Sandusky.Betty Sutton, a former congresswoman and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, campaigns in Sandusky at Lions Park on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.Ex-officio Mayor Dennis Murray Jr. talks with Betty Sutton at Lions Park on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.