Scott Pruitt's War On Wind Energy Will Only Hurt Oklahomans

Construction on America’s largest wind power plant began last year in Oklahoma. This project, the Wind Catcher Energy Connection, will consist of 800 wind turbines, span over 350 miles, and create 8,400 good paying jobs. It will also save consumers $7 billion by providing cheap electricity to over 1.1 million people in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

Although known for its oil and gas, Oklahoma, like its oil-producing neighbor Texas, has some of the best wind resources in the country. As technology has improved, wind energy is now the cheapest form of electricity across much of the U.S. The career of “wind energy technician” is now the fastest growing job in country. When new energy is called for or old, polluting sources like coal need replacing wind is nearly always the best option, making it the fastest growing source of new energy in the United States. No wonder that last year, a poll showed that 90 percent of American voters approved of expanding wind energy. It’s a future that Oklahoma can lead.

So it’s surprising that someone who has widely been reported to be running for office in Oklahoma is actively trying to prevent that future. Unfortunately, that is exactly what EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is doing. Pruitt started by repealing the Clean Power Plan that would have opened up markets to wind and natural gas over coal though Oklahoma produces very little coal.  Then, Pruitt continued his attack on Oklahoma’s wind industry by calling for key wind tax credits to be eliminated.  Beyond stifling job growth in Oklahoma, creating a new debate about these previously established incentives undermines investor certainty starving wind project investment and hurting wind jobs in Oklahoma. Pruitt claims that the “free market” should dictate these kinds of decisions, but he has remained silent as the Trump administration has proposed guaranteed profits for large coal and nuclear power plants (the biggest competitors of wind and gas) while pretending the real economic and environmental benefits of new clean energy sources don’t exist. This proposed rule is a targeted attack, and is a clear example of “picking winners and losers.” Unfortunately, the only winners will be ideological donors to Republican politicians and the losers will be ordinary Oklahomans.

Pruitt’s attack on wind energy threatens tens of thousands of jobs in Oklahoma today, and it threatens an industry poised to provide even more jobs in the future. While Oklahoma hangs on as the fifth largest oil producing state, the opportunity for Oklahoma’s leadership in wind energy is skyrocketing. Within just a few years, wind has grown to one quarter of the state’s net generation, enabling seven factories that make wind turbine parts to locate in the state.  In addition, companies like Facebook and Google are demanding cheap, 100 percent renewable energy to power their data centers and corporate campuses. Oklahoma, like many states throughout the midwest, offers tremendous resources to lure those new facilities and jobs. The market is speaking loud and clear – fossil fuels have no future against cleaner, cheaper, twenty-first century sources of energy.

Twenty years ago it may have made sense for a politician in Oklahoma to attack renewables and defend fossil fuels. But the fastest growing source of energy in America is wind, and it’s powering the fastest growing career in the country.  Politicians like Scott Pruitt who want to lead Oklahoma in the twenty-first century ought to push an agenda that helps all of Oklahoma’s energy job creators, and puts Oklahoma’s workers ahead of political ideology.

Mike Carr is the executive director of New Energy America , an organization that promotes clean energy jobs in rural America. Previously, he served as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy.