Reckless. It’s what the head of the Wind Coalition says about an Oklahoma legislator’s belief that the wind industry was behind the tracking device found on the legislator’s pickup truck last month.
Jeffrey Clark, President of the Coalition denied any suggestion by Rep. Mark McBride, a Republican from Moore.
“I feel confident that this industry would not be a party to any kind of illegal activity,” said Clark. “We have certainly taken issue with positions that he has taken in the past. But we’re in the business of debating issues and participating in elections.”
When McBride found the device, he told Moore police he suspected the wind industry was behind it because of his efforts against wind farms.
“He advised me of the possibility of a wind farm corporation being connected to placing the GPS on his vehicle,” stated Moore police officer Francisco Franco when he wrote his report on the incident.
The report was taken Dec. 4 and officer Franco said Rep. McBride told him he was “in the process of writing legislation against wind farms which could influence wind farm corporations negatively.”
The police report was released earlier this week and now the OSBI is probing the matter.
McBride is vice chairman of the Oklahoma House Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In an interview this week with reporters, he made it clear he felt the GPS device was put there because of his activities as a legislator.
He has led a push in the legislature to create a gross production tax on the wind energy and has stated he believes it could raise $100 million a year to fund teacher pay raises.