Sierra Club pushes fight to expand solar energy industry and protect the wind industry in Oklahoma

  • February 25, 2019

 

The Oklahoma Sierra Club is making a pitch to its members and followers to urge the state legislature to do more for expansion of solar energy in the state and at the same time protect the wind industry.

In a message to members over the weekend, Oklahoma Sierra club Chapter President Johnson Grimm-Bridgwater said their efforts will be critical to ensure the success of Oklahoma’s wind farms and in allowing solar energy to grow.

“Our state is a leader in wind energy, but some lawmakers are trying to roll back the industry’s remarkable success. On the other hand, Oklahoma ranks 45th in solar energy despite getting the sixth most sunshine of all the states. There are several exciting bills in the legislature that could create thousands of solar energy jobs, and they need your support!” wrote Grimm-Bridgwater.

He went on to point out the success of the wind industry in Oklahoma, supporting nearly 9,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state.

” Unfortunately, anti-renewable energy legislators are trying to roll back the wind industry with bills that would add numerous new taxes, restrictions, and red-tape, with the goal of stopping this industry in its tracks,” he stated.
The Sierra Club leader also made a similar claim against those fighting what he called “common-sense bills” to allow the solar energy industry to start growing in Oklahoma.
” But predictably, coal barons and their friends who run the for-profit utility monopolies in our state are pushing back,” he continued. “… we can’t let backward-looking state legislators roll back the wind energy jobs that have been so vital to central and western Oklahoma, or stop solar energy from starting to grow everywhere in our state.”

Jerry Bohnen