By Shane Smith

For a state widely considered to be the “reddest” in the nation, we seem to have a very “green” problem with renewable energy investment here. As of January, Oklahoma is home to 5,527 active wind turbines, marring our horizon and land, and producing inconsistent power, while hideous and sprawling solar farms pop up around the state, removing thousands of open acres from productive use while uglifying it in the process.

For example, take the North Fork Solar Farm, which operates on 1,012 acres near Snyder in the southwestern part of the state. It looks like a landfill, and the solar panels that pollute that acreage will probably end up in a landfill sooner rather than later. A quick Google search tells me that less than 10% of all decommissioned solar panels are ever recycled. Not quite as green we’re told.

And now we must confront the rapid rise of the carbon capture industry in our state before it becomes as entrenched as solar and wind.

Many Republican and Democrat officials initially welcomed this green intrusion into Oklahoma. Gov. Kevin Stitt appears ecstatic for every new green project, as can be seen from his many comments, as well as his recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding MOU with Denmark to ensure even greater wind investment in our state, including a potential construction of a “green” methanol power production facility.

In 2023, Stitt sang the praises of a planned $1 billion-dollar solar panel factory, to be built outside of Tulsa by Italian company, Enel. But as of 2024, the project has stalled. The company cites uncertainty regarding the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the most radical piece of environmental legislation in U.S. history, and the source of much of the rapid push for renewable expansion in Oklahoma. Stitt, to his credit, has harshly criticized the IRA, but with his glowing support of green companies in his state that take full advantage of IRA benefits, he appears to be playing both fields.

While the green industry has pushed further and further into our state, greater numbers of Oklahomans have taken notice, and pushed back. On January 7th, a rally organized by the Freedom Brigade was held at the state capitol and attracted hundreds of attendees, all demanding legislators put a stop to new green initiatives across the state, and hoping for Executive Orders from Governor Stitt in support of that effort. Foreign investment in green energy was a major sore spot as well, and activists demanded that Oklahoma prohibit foreign green investment in our state. Several lawmakers spoke at the rally, including Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, placing themselves at odds with Governor Stitt on the issue. While Stitt has been gung-ho with new green investment, the political tide waters may force him to rethink his support for massive solar and wind investments.

Several pieces of legislation have been filed by State Rep. Jim Shaw (R-Chandler) that would begin to effectively curb the out-of-control green energy industry in our state. House Bill 1450 would place an indefinite moratorium on all wind and solar facilities, including expansion of existing facilities. House Bill 1451 would establish setbacks for new solar farm facilities and amend setbacks for wind facilities built after November 1. House Bill 1452 would allow Oklahoma to assess industrial wind and solar companies a tax equal to the federal subsidies that these entities receive.

State Senator Jonathan Wingard (R-Ada) filed Senate Bill 239, which would eliminate the zero-emission subsidy the wind industry after the tax year 2025.

Aside from the stalled plan for a $1 billion solar panel factory, other green projects in our state have been postponed, revamped, or cancelled entirely.

On January 13, a planned wind farm in McIntosh County was cancelled by Canadian-based TransAlta after the proposed project received intense opposition from landowners. The project would have entailed 100 wind turbines built throughout the county, something that didn’t fly with the residents, who were concerned with how the turbines would affect aquifers, among other legitimate concerns.

In December of last year, a federal court ordered the removal of an 8,400-acre wind farm on the Osage reservation. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves of the U.S. Court of International Trade gave the company, Enel, until December 1, 2025, to have all 84 turbines removed. The judge also awarded $4 million in damages to the Osage Nation.

Also in December, a planned 645-mile electrical transmission line, dubbed the Delta-Plains Transmission Corridor, has been cancelled by the U.S. Department of Energy after widespread opposition from residents from all over the state, as well as elected officials. The project would have spanned the entire northern portion of the state, carrying electricity east to west, and many feared the use of eminent domain as a means to build it, and the prospect of dangerous and environmentally damaging transmission lines blighting large swathes of private land.

These stories show that our voice has real power to make change. A green energy onslaught is only inevitable if we do nothing. But if this same pressure is relentlessly applied, we do have the power to banish it entirely. And one major area that needs this same unrelenting pressure is the carbon capture industry that is rapidly expanding throughout our state. The IRA tripled the tax credit for captured carbon to $180 per ton, igniting a gold rush of investment for a worse-than-useless innovation that would’ve never taken off without this subsidy. Before 2022, carbon capture was almost universally seen as an unserious method of carbon reduction. But thanks to the IRA, every carbon-emitting industry is licking its chops and pouring money into the scheme, and Oklahoma is one of several states in the crosshairs.

In August of last year, the largest DAC (direct air capture) carbon capture plant in the nation opened in Osage County, and almost no one noticed. Stitt, of course, praised its opening, as did many other elected Republicans. The facility will essentially draw CO2 out of the air by heating limestone (yes, that’s right). There is a concerted effort by many carbon capture companies to open a new type of well, called a Class VI well, where highly pressurized carbon dioxide is injected deep under Oklahoma, within its geological formations, for permanent storage. This plan seems insane on the face of it. Do Oklahomans really want 100 million tons of liquefied carbon stored below their land, where a very real potential for leakage can occur? The wheels are in motion to begin injecting CO2 in several geological formations underground.

In November, the Melbourne College of Earth and Energy at the University of Oklahoma, received an $18.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate three underground sites in Osage and Kay counties for their potential to store up to 54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

Once they’ve begun injections, and once the unstable carbon has filled these formations, it will probably be too late for serious opposition. Once filled, all future Oklahomans will be forced to contend with these underground reservoirs and suffer the consequences should the CO2 leak. Plans for a vast network of CO2 pipelines is already underway, and the anti-green coalition that has formed in our state must take notice and mount an effective opposition before it’s too late.

The big difference between carbon capture and other green energy industries is that the oil and gas industry are all onboard. As the largest emitters of CO2, they stand to gain an enormous windfall by capturing their carbon and collecting on the tax credit.

Much has been done to curb the tax-glutted renewable energy industry in our state, but much work must still be done. The most positive development is the emergence of organized and effective opposition to wind and solar. The reddest state in the nation should live up to its name, expose wind, solar, and carbon capture for the dead ends that they are, and route out the “green” scam entirely. What would it be replaced with? The only true green alternative is nuclear, but that’s another discussion entirely.

Shane Smith is a pro-liberty writer based in Norman, Oklahoma. He blogs at: RepublicReborn.com