Oklahoma's Contribution To 'Earth Day'

On Monday, April 21, 2014 , S.B. 1456 passed the Oklahoma state House 83-5 after no debate."Oklahoma residents who produce their own energy through solar panels or small wind turbines on their property will now be charged an additional fee, the result of a new bill passed by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin (R)."

COMMENTARY
One of the greatest things about solar energy is it's there when you need it the most. Here in the United States throughout the summer on the hottest days we suffer from brown-outs. This is when our electrical grids are strained to their max. However these are the optimum conditions for pollution free solar panels at which time they perform at their best.

We're becoming the biggest a-holes in the world by allowing fossil fuel interests to hold us back in the steam age while the rest of the world moves forward.Saudi Arabia to invest $109 billion in solar energy-- "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced plans to invest $109 billion to produce 41 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2032, almost 30 percent of its total energy requirement."So here you have the second largest oil producer in the world who in less then 18 years expects about 30% of their electric to come from the sun. Even they favor solar over the continuation of burning dirty fossilized crud coming from holes in the ground. They are not alone. The United States ranks 5th in total solar energy output behind Germany, China, Italy and Japan. Three of which are far smaller nations then we.

While other nations are moving forward here we are fighting over a pipeline and (possible earthquake prone) fracking. As if that weren't bad enough here we are attempting to stifle solar technology's progress. This while in the meantime the world's second largest oil producer, the government of Saudi Arabia is pouring $109 billion of it's own money. This will not only extend the life of their oil fields, but also extend other nations' dependency on them further into the future.

It's not just about energy, pollution nor even scientific progress
Why do you think Russia invaded Crimea?
(The answer may not be for the reasons you think)Atlantic.com-- "The peninsula also sits atop vast underwater gas basins in the Black Sea, estimated to contain between 4 and 13 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. As Ukraine's southernmost territory, the peninsula has the highest solar-energy potential in the country and already featured one of Europe's largest photovoltaic parks. Its mountainous coastline holds strong wind-energy potential, with seven wind plants already built there and more planned before the crisis. But all of that infrastructure and investment now rests in Russian hands."Additionally Ukraine's nuclear power plants supply almost 50% of it's electric that rely almost entirely on Russia for it's supply of uranium to power them.

So what's that to us?
In January 2014 the U.S. imported 287,188,000 barrels of crude oil products. No matter how you slice and dice it when it comes to foreign policy it makes the U.S. dependent to the whims of foreign nations. Nations who can hold us hostage to their demands for our continued military support and set political and economic policies with them.

Currently the United States depends on other nations to supply roughly 30% of our petroleum needs. Unless we plan on fracking and drilling every few miles on both land and sea, we're pretty much in the same boat. I don't know about anyone else but creating earthquakes, polluting our water and air is one hellva' lousy plan for solving our growing energy needs.

If we truly want to be not only energy independent and free from foreign governments dictating our polices we need energies like those that come from solar and wind devices. Making laws that stifle these is not only ignorant policy, but can be dangerous as well.