Oklahoma, the state that gave the world Senator James “global warming is a hoax” Inhofe (R-Big Oil), has just passed a proposed 15% by 2015 Renewable Energy Standard, in the House. The Oklahoma Energy Security Act would have to pass its Senate too, to be the law. Or, as Senator Inhofe has described clean energy legislation; be “a job-killing agenda.”
If it does pass the state Senate, this would make Oklahoma a trailblazer among most Southern states, in passing legislation to add clean renewable power, albeit as a “goal.” The bill is unusual in that it encourages the development of natural gas, not normally considered a “renewable” source, but still one that has about half the global warming properties of coal.
In the 35 states that now have a Renewable Energy Standard (RES), greenhouse gases have been lowered, compared with states that have no legislation, and green jobs created by adding more renewable power.
Four of the RES states have actually achieved ambitious European-scale greenhouse gas reductions below 1990 levels – while growing their economies an average of 65%.