It is this sort of attitude that made me glad to leave Oklahoma, and precludes me from ever returning.
“Oklahoma residents who produce their own energy through solar panels or small wind turbines on their property will now be charged an additional fee, the result of a new bill passed by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin (R).”1
We should be doing everything we can to promote green energy. I suppose someone convinced the folks who pass for legislators in Oklahoma that it was “bad for business” to have folks doing this. That perhaps it was cutting into the electric suppliers’ business.
In making the above statement I wondered how Oklahoma generated most of its electricity. Turns out most of it comes from six coal-fired power plants (27% of states capacity3 ). The second article is blaming the fact that a state with large natural gas reservoirs using coal to generate electricity on the Federal government2. This may be true, but with the base article is from the National Review, a very conservative magazine, I wonder what the other angles are.
Oklahoma used to be a solidly Democratic state. Now it seems to be solidly in the camp of the Tea Party. How sad.
See articles:
1: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/16/3427392/oklahoma-fee-solar-wind/
3: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Existing_coal_plants_in_Oklahoma