Shareholders of Massey Energy voted Tuesday to re-elect Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee to the coal mining company’s Board of Directors, much to the dismay of environmentalists.

At the same meeting, shareholders voted down two environmental-protection proposals brought by other shareholders. Environmental and social action groups criticize Massey for its practice of mountaintop removal mining and its record of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violations.

Some shareholders proposed an Environmental Progress Report to be compiled by Massey’s Board of Directors six months before next year’s meeting. The report would update shareholders on the progress of company reforms.

The reforms are required by a $20 million settlement with the EPA for more than 4,500 violations of the Clean Water Act.

In a proxy statement sent to shareholders before Tuesday’s meeting, the Board of Directors recommended shareholders vote against the measure. It said it would include “in some fashion all of the topics in [the] proposal,” in future Corporate Social Responsibility Reports.

The company has produced just one of these reports, but intends to use them to keep shareholders updated, according to the proxy statement.

The second proposal called for a separate carbon dioxide emissions report from the company. The report would outline how the company is dealing with growing legal and social pressures associated with global climate change.

Again, the board advised stockholders to vote no. It defended the company and industry and cited corporate support of clean-coal technologies. The board stated that “providing this report will not add value or provide additional information to the stockholders and will only serve to increase administrative burdens and costs.”

Gee discussed his service on Massey’s board in an April interview with The Lantern, the only time he has done so publicly. He defended his continued service saying “It would be very easy for me to get off the [board] because I really don’t need to do that. But the other side of it, the reason I continue to serve, is the fact that I believe very strongly in environmental issues and it’s better to be inside of the tent making a difference than it is [to be] outside complaining.”

Gee has often publicly stated his support for seeking clean and renewable energy solutions. He is co-chairing a “partnership of public universities pushing to develop renewable energy resources,” according to Columbus Business First.

OSU Media Relations said Wednesday that Gee “is not available for comment on this particular story.”

Contacted Wednesday, a Massey receptionist said the company has only one public relations person and he is on vacation.

According to a report by Columbus Business First, Gee received $219,261 for his work on Massey’s board last year. The Associate Press reported that he holds more than 28,000 shares in Massey, worth $531,000 as of last Wednesday. He made $1.3 million as president of OSU last year.

Environmental groups, local and national, are asking for Gee to choose his clean energy stance over his desire to influence Massey from the inside. His re-election, along with the defeat of the environmental proposals, brings new pressure from these groups.

Gee said in his Lantern interview that coal “represents 60 percent of the energy in this country. It’s the only self-sustaining energy source that we have right now. So we need to get it right, or else we need to shut off the lights.”

The group that started the campaign against Gee’s involvement with Massey is Cleveland-based Ohio Citizen Action. Organizing Director Paul Ryder wrote on the group’s Web site Tuesday that Gee “needs to do his homework on coal statistics.” He went on to say that mountaintop removal mining comprises only 4.8 percent of the nation’s electrical energy and it is anything but self-sustaining.

“I think it’s very disappointing, … a major conflict of interests,” said Matthew Reitman, coordinator of the Ohio Student Environment Coalition. “I agree that it’s easier to effect change from the inside. Gordon Gee has not done that. If he can demonstrate tangible results, that’s one thing. He has been unwilling to produce any evidence that he’s effected any major environmental or human rights reforms [at Massey].”

There are several activist groups fighting for Gee’s resignation from Massey across the nation, state and OSU campus. Notable newcomers on this list are Greenpeace USA and the Sierra Club.


Scott O’Rourke can be reached at [email protected].