An Eco Bite on The Great Ohio Climate March

The Great Ohio Climate March is happening May 16-28, 2026. The purpose of this march is to draw attention to the impacts of fracking on Ohio’s public lands, the climate crisis, and the benefits of renewable energy. The southern Ohio route passes through areas impacted by fracking and begins in Athens, Ohio, travels through Salt Fork State Park, and ends at the Statehouse. The march is organized by Third Act Ohio, in partnership with 20 environmental organizations, including the Ohio Sierra Club and the Buckeye Environmental Network.  In this episode, Jess Grim, one of the organizers, tells us all about the march, what to expect, and how to join. Anyone can participate either for the entire event or just for the day. There will be opportunities to learn about the impacts of fracking on Ohio's public land, see fracking operations firsthand, hike along Ohio's Buckeye Trail, and share meals and conversation. You can join the march by registering by April 16th.  

Transcript

Diane Bickett, Host 0:04

You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for the Eco Curious in Northeast Ohio. My name is Diane Vickett, and my producer is Greg Rotuno. Together we speak with local sustainability leaders and invite you to connect, learn, and live with our community and planet in mind. Hello, friends. Thank you for joining us for this EcoByte, which is a shorter episode to learn about the Great Ohio Climate March happening this May, over 13 days, starting in Athens, Ohio, and ending at the State House. It's meant to draw attention to the impacts of fracking on Ohio's public lands, the climate crisis, and the benefits of renewable energy. Here to tell us all about the march and how to register is Jess Grimm. Jess is one of the organizers of the Great Ohio Climate March. Welcome, Jess. Thanks so much. Happy to be here. Yeah. So earlier this week, Cleveland.com reported that the state has opened up 9,000 more acres of state-owned land for fracking, including the area within Salt Fork State Park. And you're going to be walking through that area for the March. So I think it's very timely indeed. Let's start with, you know, what what is this March? What are you planning?

Jess Grim, Guest 1:15

Yeah, so thanks for thanks for the opportunity to talk about the March. The March is in a lot of ways a way to respond to what's happening in Ohio on several different fronts, but in particular, what's happening with fracking and in and focusing even more fracking on our state, on our public lands in our state parks, which is a relatively recent in terms of the last four, five, six years now. And they are selling off our state park lands essentially. They are being the our our state government, our legislators, yes. Yeah. And and fracking is not happening. What what politicians in Ohio will tell you, some politicians, is that the frack pads are not actually on park lands, which is correct. But what fracking does is it drills straight down and then it goes horizontally. And it is those horizontal drilling movements that are going to be going under the parks and disrupting wildlife, huge issues with noise pollution and light pollution and truck pollution and all kinds of other things we may get into a little bit more in a minute. Okay.

Diane Bickett, Host 2:27

Yeah, we will get to some of the impacts of fracking in Ohio. So this march is being organized by Third Act Ohio, and you've got a couple other partners. Third Act Ohio is a retirement organization, or we don't call it that.

Jess Grim, Guest 2:44

There are actually some members of Third Act who are not retired, but it's a it's an organization that really was organized, started primarily by Bill McKibben, who's a fairly well-known environmentalist and author. And he the the organization really is for folks 60 and over. And the two main goals are to protect our environment and to protect our democracy. So those are very, very steep climbs right now. I love it. And Third Act Ohio has started um early on. Third Act National is a fairly new organization, and Third Act Ohio was one of the earlier chapters. And this is our biggest project so far, the Great Ohio Climate March.

Diane Bickett, Host 3:24

It does sound like a big project. So it's taking place May 16th through the 28th. And where where does it start? Well, it starts in Athens, right? Yeah. And tell us a little bit about the route and why it was picked.

Jess Grim, Guest 3:38

Absolutely. So, well, it the whole march takes place essentially in the southeast quadrant of the state, and that is primarily because that's where fracking is happening, because that's where the Utica and the Marcellus shales live. And that's where fracking happens, is is on those shales. So that's the general location was chosen for that reason. We're starting in Athens. We are moving north through some gorgeous countryside. A lot of it is on the Buckeye Trail. So this will be real hiking with hiking boots kind of hiking, not serious mountains. We don't really have those in Ohio, but a little bit of ups and downs, rolling hills for the first number of days. And then we arrive in Salt Fork and we have a rally in Salt Fork on May 23rd, which is a day of rest. We're calling it a family and fun day. There will be a rally, we'll have speakers, entertainment, some educational opportunities there. And then we will move from Salt Fork for the second half of the March. We will go directly west and end in Columbus at the State House.

Diane Bickett, Host 4:44

We're hopefully, hopefully, you'll make a splash. Now, when you say we, it's not just Third Act Ohio participants. It's open to anyone who wants to join the march. Absolutely. Absolutely. What is about 10 or 13 miles a day?

Jess Grim, Guest 4:58

Not quite that many, actually. So it's absolutely open to anyone and everyone who is interested, and people can walk for the entire 13 days, or they can walk for one day or two days or a week. So it's very, very flexible in terms of what people can engage in. And our partners are many at this point. We have about 20 partners working with us at Third Act Ohio, Sierra Club Ohio, and Sierra Club Northeast Ohio, Backeye Environmental Network, and Save Ohio Parks are all really important partners for us. Okay. So we're really thrilled to be working with them.

Diane Bickett, Host 5:35

So folks can join, and registration ends on April 16th. Yes. There'll be a link in the show notes where you people can go to the website, which is the Great Ohio Climate March, to register. Yes. I would imagine there's a lot of learning opportunities along the way. So you can join this march. You don't have to know a thing about this issue, but you can learn a whole lot. Absolutely. Whether you join for a day or the whole thing, right?

Jess Grim, Guest 5:59

Yeah, we'll be doing a lot of, we think it's going to be really fun and interesting. It's not all going to be depressing. It's going to be a reality check for a lot of people because even folks who've known about fracking and have some sense of what it is have probably never seen a frack pad or an injection well or some of this oil and gas infrastructure that the march is going to be moving past. And we'll have experts with us from a lot of different organizations and institutions who will be talking about some of these some of the infrastructure we'll be passing and some of the issues that that all of this work, all of this infrastructure really, the impacts that it has on Ohio. So we'll have lots of great learning opportunities as the March moves along. We'll also be doing things like looking at invasive species while we're walking along trails. So it's not all about oil and gas.

Diane Bickett, Host 6:50

Okay. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. How much does it cost to register? And are you taking care of accommodations? Are you are you camping out? What's happening there?

Jess Grim, Guest 6:59

Yes. So accommodations will be either in campgrounds if folks are comfortable camping, or in hotels, relatively low-cost hotels. So depending on what people are comfortable with. And we are also providing food. We have a wonderful organization that is doing all of the cooking for us. So we'll have meals together and that. So it'll be a real community-building adventure as well. And the the total cost, if you want to do the entire march, the 13 days, which is inclusive of accommodations and food and some other kinds of things like support wagons, shuttling, support wagon, sag wagon, all of that kind of stuff, medics, all of that. For campgrounds, it's 600 and something. I don't have the exact figure in my head. And for the hotels, it's 800 and something. Okay. And it's much less if you're doing one day or two days or three days or a week. So yeah. And there are also some scholarships available. We really don't want the cost to be prohibitive for people who really want to be on the march. We have in particular a scholarship for young folks. And our definition of young folks is anyone under 30. So it's fairly nice, broad definition. Any college students. So that information is available on our website also.

Diane Bickett, Host 8:14

Okay. And what if I wanted to just come join you for the day? Is that do I register for that?

Jess Grim, Guest 8:20

We like people to register even if you're just going to be there for a day, because we'll want you to eat with us. And we need numbers to know how many people we were going to be feeding. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a relatively, I believe it's $20 to to just participate for a full day, which includes the meals. Yeah.

Diane Bickett, Host 8:37

Well, it's a really big lift to organize something like this. So I commend you on that. I understand you've been, you and your team have been working on this for over a year. And I hope you get a really great turnout and I hope you draw a lot of press attention. Thank you so much. I've been following the the Walk for Peace. I the one that happened recently from the Buddhist monks that walked from Texas to Washington, D.C. and the people lining the roads. I so inspiration. I envision that for you. I want that to happen.

Jess Grim, Guest 9:07

I think we're going to have shoes on, but um, but otherwise there may be some similarities.

Diane Bickett, Host 9:11

I don't know that we'll have a mascot, but that would be lovely if we could find one. Okay. What's the outcome that you would like to see from this all this work?

Jess Grim, Guest 9:19

So so the big piece that I haven't talked about, and I'll just mention it briefly, is the whole march ends in Columbus. Um there'll be a very large rally there. We'll have some legislators speaking, we'll have some community activists speaking, we'll have some climate scientists speaking. That is on May 28th, in the middle of the day in Columbus. And we hope that, and following that, we'll have some legislator visits. We'll be making, we'll have appointments where people can sign up and go talk to their legislators about some of the pieces of legislation that we would like them to pass, legislation we would like them to kill, and all kinds of environmental and climate-related Ohio what the work that has to happen in Ohio. So we'll be talking to our legislators about that. And that we think is going to be a really powerful endpoint for the March.

Diane Bickett, Host 10:06

For those who may not really know about what fracking is and the and the potential human and environmental impacts, can you briefly describe what those are for us?

Jess Grim, Guest 10:15

Yeah, really briefly. As I mentioned before, the difference between fracking and regular oil and gas wells is that oil and gas wells normally are just straight down into the ground, and fracking is going straight down and then it's going sideways. It's using very, very, very high pressure water to fracture the shale, to fracture the rocks, which releases the gas, which then comes back up to the surface. So some of the impacts, in addition to really horrendous light pollution and noise pollution and disruption of bio life anywhere in and around where fracking is happening. There's also a very serious piece that has to do with the with the toxic waste, which it uses many, many, many, many tens of hundreds of gallons of water for each frack site. And that water is shot down into the ground, it comes back up to the surface and is full of a lot of toxic carcinogens, benzene among them. That waste then gets injected into wells, those wells leak, they can they can poison drinking water supplies, they can poison croplands, and it's yeah.

Diane Bickett, Host 11:28

That's really scary, especially for that part of the state. They're not getting their water from Lake Erie, and uh they're getting it from wells underground. So potential huge environmental impacts, health impacts.

Jess Grim, Guest 11:40

So one one other piece, if I can just add really quickly another thing that they're doing with that toxic waste, which the state calls brine, is they're spreading it on Ohio's roads as a de-icer and as a product that keeps dust down. How is that even permitted? How does that even permit it is a really excellent question. It should not be, and there's actually a piece of legislation right now that's working its way through the Senate in Ohio to ban that, to ban the spreading of toxic brine. So that's one of the pieces of legislation we'll be talking to our lawmakers about.

Diane Bickett, Host 12:13

Okay. How will people how can people learn more about this issue of fracking? Are there some major websites that they need to go to?

Jess Grim, Guest 12:21

Yeah, absolutely. There are a couple that come right to the top of mind. One is FRAC Tracker, it's F-R-A-C and Tracker, one word, and they do amazing work. It's not just Ohio-based, it's it's uh all frack lands, which are fairly extensive across the country. Uh Save Ohio Parks is very, very focused on what's happening in our state parks and public lands with this more recent initiative to give those over to oil and gas. So Save Ohio Parks and Frack Tracker are two really awesome sites to go to. Um, a third one I'll mention is Buckeye Environmental Network, which is tracking all of this and has some really good action items. All of these sites do. That's a good one.

Diane Bickett, Host 13:03

And the action items are important because we need to make our opinions known to our state legislators. Absolutely. One final question. Can people bring their dog?

Jess Grim, Guest 13:13

I wish the answer were yes, but we don't we don't have a way to to accommodate that. A lot of the campgrounds we're staying in, and certainly the hotels are are no pets and yeah.

Diane Bickett, Host 13:25

You don't have to explain yourself like you can't throw that out there.

Jess Grim, Guest 13:28

I wish the answer were yes.

Diane Bickett, Host 13:29

Because I'm sure people are asking.

Jess Grim, Guest 13:30

There support pets and everything, but yeah, no. No. Okay. They have to leave pets at home.

Diane Bickett, Host 13:35

Remind us again the deadline to register.

Jess Grim, Guest 13:38

Yeah, the registration deadline for the Great Ohio Climate March is April 16, so not very far away. So please go to the website, Great Ohio Climate March, and register to join us, whether it's for a day or a week or the full March. Okay, we'll do. Wonderful. Thank you.

Diane Bickett, Host 13:55

Well, Jess Graham, thank you so much for sharing this information with us about the Great Ohio Climate March. And I hope you have a great turnout and a really successful event. Thank you so much. Thank you for all your work on this. Thanks a lot. I'm going to join you for a day or two. That's awesome. Look forward to seeing you there. All right, thank you.

Greg Rotuno, producer 14:12

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