Oklahoma Needs Wind Industry Champions, Not Scott Pruitt

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released its U.S. Wind Industry Fourth Quarter 2017 Market Report yesterday, which found that Oklahoma has surpassed Iowa as the state with the second highest wind energy capacity. Despite wind energy’s increasing success in Oklahoma, the state’s former attorney general and the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt, has continued to ignore wind energy development and instead focused on making billionaire fossil fuel executives richer.

As a key Trump cabinet member -- who has, nevertheless, claimed Trump is a danger to the country -- Pruitt has supported major budget cuts to wind energy development and research during his tenure, while undermining clean air and water protections - putting the profits of the  oil, coal, and fracked gas industries ahead of public health. Despite the jobs, innovation, and investment flooding into Oklahoma from the booming wind sector , Pruitt continues in his campaign of thwarting the state’s clean energy economy in favor of fossil fuels.

In response, Johnson Bridgwater, Sierra Club’s Oklahoma Chapter Director, released the following statement:

“It’s a tragedy that Scott Pruitt doesn’t support Oklahoma’s wind industry, which is creating jobs and investments across our state. Wind energy creates real economic opportunities in rural areas, creating much needed tax revenues that prevent rural schools from shuttering their doors. It also provides the entire state with clean, cheap energy that doesn’t make our communities sick with air and water pollution.

“We need more officials to support the wind industry. Scott Pruitt, however, only works to make fossil fuel billionaires richer by removing clean air and water protections -- putting the health of Oklahoma communities at risk.”