Cache of Zoominfo on Stivers:
Steve Stivers approved over $7,000,000 in taxpayer giveaways to Buckeye Check Cashing during his first day on the controlling board. [Ohio Controlling Board Minutes 1/9/06]
Not surprisingly, the payday lending industry has given $6,000 in contributions to Stivers so far.
Shortly after that, the State Senate decided to write S.B. 185 to crack down on predatory lending practices. At the time, Ohio was one of only two states that exempted the mortgage industry from the Consumer Sales Practices Act. [Columbus Dispatch, 1/19/06]. Steve Stivers was one of only four State Senators to vote against the bill.
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> Why has Steve Stivers received his largest campaign contributions for 2008 and 2010 from American Electric Power?
In 2008, Stivers received nearly $76,000 from American Electric Power (see OpenSecrets).
In 2010, Stivers has already received over $47,000 from America Electric Power (see OpenSecrets2010).
There is some background on this from Ohio Citizen Action from 2008:
....At the beginning of the summer, District 15 residents began writing to both major party congressional candidates asking them to pledge, if elected, to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2169, an effective ban on mountaintop removal coal mining.
On July 28, Commissioner Kilroy replied, pledging to support this ban...
Despite numerous attempts by Ohio Citizens Action to get a reply from the Stivers campaign, there was no reply. The Stivers campaign delayed and ignored requests on whether he would, if elected, co-sponsor the Clean Air Protection Act.
I know you are sitting there still trying to figure out the connection with Stivers and American Electric Power. What has he offered to do for them? Why would American Electric Power invest approximately $120,000 in campaign contributions for Steve Stivers?
Ohio Citizens Action found out the connection: ...According to Appalachian Voices, American Electric Power buys mountaintop removal coal to power its coal plants....
MountainJustice explains exactly mountaintop removal coal mining does:
Mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining (MTR) has been called strip mining on steroids. One author says the process should be more accurately named: mountain range removal. Mountaintop removal /valley fill mining annihilates ecosystems, transforming some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world into biologically barren moonscapes...
The Sierra Club has this about AEP:
American Electric Power, the largest electricity generator in the U.S., is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. AEP directly or through wholly owned subsidiaries owns and operates approximately 80 power plants, more than 50 of which are coal-fired....
....AEP has consistently opposed better clean-air standards and has fought efforts to require modern pollution controls. AEP purchased the entire village of Cheshire, Ohio in 2001 for $20 million in response to legal action. People outside the buyout boundary continue to live under the shadow of AEP's Gavin and Kyger Creek power plants, and suffer from health issues ranging from acid burns to soot-related heart and lung disease. AEP is America's biggest emitter of mercury...
....American Electric Power is the largest consumer of coal in the western hemisphere, purchasing a total volume of MTR coal equivalent to 25% of what leaves the state of West Virginia annually. MTR is a method by which whole tops of mountains are blasted away to access coal seams below....
It seems very clear that Stivers and AEP are on the same page on opposing any legislation that protects our environment.
The residents of Ohio's 15th congressional district, OSU students, families, individuals, senior citizens, and all those that care about protecting our land, air, and water, will find that only Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy has worked and will continue to work to protect our environment. To find out more about Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy's work to protect the environment, visit the NRDC Action Fund website for details.