As a national pension manager, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is tasked with safeguarding the retirement savings for millions of Canadians.

So as Ohioans we were shocked to find out the CPPIB is the 98% owner of Encino Acquisition Partners, a Houston-based oil and gas company that has aggressively sought to frack our state parks and wildlife areas. These public lands are paid for and owned by the people of Ohio, yet through Encino Acquisition Partners, you are trying to destroy them.

The CPPIB is turning Ohio into a fracking sacrifice zone. Are your pensioners aware of that?

Fracking is already widespread across the Utica Shale region of Ohio. Public land – 3% of the land in Ohio – was until recently the only area off limits. That wasn’t enough for Encino and the oil and gas industry. They’ve fracked everything else. Now they want our state parks and wildlife areas too.

Here is some of what fracking has brought to our communities:

Health: People who live within one mile of a fracked well experience significant health problems, including heart problems, increased cancers and asthmas, low birth weights and fertility issues. Children who live within a mile of a well pad experience 5 to 7 times the lymphoma cases compared to children who live five miles away. Fracking emits pollutants including benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene, which are linked to respiratory disease. It’s likely no coincidence that lung and bronchial cancer now lead Ohio cancer deaths.

Safety: According to an analysis by FracTracker Alliance, more than 1,400 oil and gas incidents (accidents, spills, fires, explosions) have occurred in Ohio over the last five years – almost one per day. Each "incident" releases dangerous chemicals and methane, endangering humans and all living things. Several have required evacuations within a multi-mile radius.

Economics: A decade of fracking shows that jobs promised by the oil and gas industry never materialized. A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland ranks Ohio 45th nationally in economic growth from the fourth quarter of 2021 through the third quarter of 2023. Job and income growth in Appalachian Ohio (including seven highly fracked counties) has been on a downward slide for years, according to a Frackolachia update.

Climate: An analysis by Climate Trace, which uses satellite technology to track greenhouse gas emissions, finds that the Utica Shale region of Ohio, where Encino is a major operator, was responsible for 52.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, ranking 20th of all sources of emissions in the world.

Oil and gas are risky investments for Canadian pensioners.

As Ohioans, we are confused as to why the CPPIB deems the expansion of fracking to be a prudent investment in the best interests of Canadians, given the CPPIB’s mandate to maximize returns without undue risk of loss and its net-zero by 2050 commitment.

Fossil fuels are the primary cause of the climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Energy Agency (IEA), and other authoritative climate science organizations have concluded that gas and oil production must be phased out to limit global heating to 1.5°C and prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis. Yet Encino Acquisition Partners is charging forward with fracking Ohio’s most precious natural areas that were meant to be protected. The CPPIB and Encino appear to be using Ohio as a fossil fuel sacrifice zone and gambling the Canada Pension Plan on oil and gas expansion that will lead to catastrophic climate change.

The CPPIB is mandated to maximize returns for Canadians without undue risk of loss, but investing in the expansion of fracking in Ohio’s state parks and wildlife areas brings with it escalating regulatory, legal, reputational, political and financial risks. It also locks Ohio and the United States into years of increased oil and gas production that further destabilizes the climate for Ohioans and Canadians alike. Ohioans like us will continue to advocate to protect our land, water and climate, and leave oil and gas in the ground, stranding Encino’s Utica shale assets as the global transition away from fossil fuels accelerates.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis finds a decade-long pattern of financial underperformance by the energy sector compared to the S&P 500 index. The fossil fuel industry now makes up less than 4% of the index, with a return of -4.8% in 2023. It is only a matter of time before investors, markets, governments and regulators realize that Encino’s shale assets cannot be developed.

Ohioans don’t want our parks and wildlife areas fracked

Fracking in Ohio parks and wildlife areas was first legalized in 2011 – but the pushback from citizens was so intense that successive state governors refrained from appointing members to the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, which oversees the process of nominating public lands for fracking and awarding fracking bids.

In the face of widespread public opposition, it took until December 2022 for the Ohio legislature to kickstart the process of fracking our state parks and wildlife areas by adding a series of oil and gas amendments to HB 507, an unrelated poultry bill, during a lame duck session with no public notice or participation. These amendments falsely declared fracked gas to be “green energy” and mandated fracking of our state’s public lands.

Since then, Ohio citizens have mobilized again through Save Ohio Parks and other community organizations. Over 5,000 Ohioans submitted public comments opposed to fracking our parks and wildlife areas – while 98 people whose names were attached to comments in support of fracking said they never submitted these comments. These fraudulent comments were traced to Consumer Energy Alliance, a fossil fuel industry front group with a track record of using this underhanded tactic to promote oil and gas expansion in several states.

Ohioans have sued the state twice now over fracking in our state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands. One of those lawsuits, over the constitutionality of stuffing HB 507 with unrelated oil and gas amendments, is still pending. The second is an appeal of the commission’s awarding lease nominations to Encino and other fracking companies without allowing any public input at their meetings or considering nine factors that Ohio statute requires them to discuss. We will continue to fight the expansion of fracking in Ohio, creating ongoing regulatory, legal, reputational, political and financial risks to CPPIB’s investment in Encino Acquisition Partners.

CPPIB needs to invest in solutions, not in making the climate crisis worse

Ohioans love our state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands. These areas are made up largely of properties deeded to the state for the purpose of being protected. By destroying Ohio’s most treasured spaces, CPPIB is turning our state, and its people, into a fracking sacrifice zone. By engaging in oil and gas expansion that will further exacerbate the climate crisis, CPPIB is also sacrificing a livable future for the millions of Canadians whose retirements you are duty-bound to protect.

Climate risk is financial risk. We demand that rather than using the national retirement savings of Canadians to harm Ohio communities and worsen the climate crisis, you invest in the solutions. We call on the CPPIB to use its influence and ownership of Encino Acquisition Partners to stop this oil and gas company’s plans to frack in Ohio’s state parks and wildlife areas.

Instead of ignoring the scientific consensus on fossil fuels and climate change, we call on the CPPIB to develop and implement a credible, science-based transition plan to phase out Encino’s oil and gas production in line with what the IPCC and IEA say is required to limit global heating to 1.5°C. Anything less causes devastating harm to Ohio communities and ecosystems,, creates undue risk of loss for Canada Pension Plan members, and accelerates the climate crisis bearing down on Ohioans and Canadians alike.

There is a world of opportunity in renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, battery storage, regenerative agriculture, and other initiatives that will help stabilize our climate and grow the savings of Canada Pension Plan members. Shifting your investments from an extractive to a regenerative economy will protect all of us – while allowing Ohioans to live in a healthy environment that includes protected public lands.