Oklahoma Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman (R-Fairview) agrees that the tax credit created several years ago to help the then-struggling CNG industry get off the ground in Oklahoma should be cut because of the state’s budget crisis. “I don’t think it will have a major impact,” said Rep. Hickman, in an interview with …
Improvements are expected to begin soon at various airports around the state because of $800,000 in grants from the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. The grants for West Woodward Municipal Airport, Anadarko Municipal Airport and Clinton Municipal Airport come from the Commission’s three-year Capital Improvement Program or Construction Program. “Our local airports are gateways to the world …
Oklahoma’s Department of Environmental Quality says it is taking public comments and any requests for a public hearing on a proposed Infrastructure State Implementation Plan under the Clean Air Act. The SIP is for the 2012 Primary Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The DEQ will take requests for hearing until 10 …
One Oklahoma legislator wants a new study on the viability of new turnpikes in the state. Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Edmond wants the study done on turnpikes, the distribution of motor fuel taxes, motor vehicle taxes and what he calls an end to the “cross pledging” of turnpikes “so we can keep the original promise to …
Oklahoma’s oil and gas rig count fell by 3 in the past week while the nation’s count slipped by 5, according to the latest figures from Baker Hughes Company. Oklahoma’s decline left the state with a count of 57 working oil and gas rigs. Nationwide, the count fell to 415, down 479 from a year …
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford has joined the call for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the American Burying Beetle from the Endangered Species Act. In a letter to Director Daniel Ashe, the Senator argued the presence of the beetle and its protected status has a “real impact on local economies and infrastructure …
Two energy-related bills are among several approved by the Oklahoma Senate Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget as the legislature gets serious about resolving the $1.3 billion budget shortfall. One goes after tax credits meant to help Oklahoma’s CNG industry. Senate Bill 1581 limits the amount of tax credits for investment in clean-burning motor fuel …
A new report says the Ogallala Aquifer in Oklahoma and the Midwest continues to lose water and Oklahoma State University scientists and researchers are trying to do something about it. The University’s teamed up with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to study ways to preserve the aquifer. The research is being funded by a $10 …
The latest Drought Monitor report for Oklahoma shows less than 2 percent of the state is in the classification of ‘moderate drought’ and 12 percent is abnormally dry. Gary McManus, State Climatologist at the Oklahoma Mesonet indicated that recent rains made improvements in most of the state. While 88 percent of the state is clear …
The legislator who authored the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Initiative to soon begin passenger serve between Tulsa and Oklahoma City is telling other legislators they don’t know what they’re talking about in wanting to cut the state’s share of funding the Heartland Flyer. Rep. Richard Morrissette D-OKC, responded to one legislator who called for …