President Trump was right when he said, “[wind farms] only work if you give them a subsidy… it’s the most expensive energy there is.”
In Oklahoma, we know this better than anyone. The Zero Emissions Facility Tax Credit was a trojan horse that promised to bring jobs and revenue. Now we can see that it only brought some 500 jobs, and Oklahoma taxpayers will never get a return on this investment. This was the worst corporate welfare deal in the history of Oklahoma, all to the tune of $1 billion at the taxpayer's expense.
As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I managed to kill this tax credit at the end of 2016, but the damage had already been done. Think about what $1 billion could have done for our schools, infrastructure, and law enforcement officers. Instead, wind farms are littering our state and weighing down our economy.
The radical left will say that wind power is among the cheapest and fastest-growing forms of energy, but The Wall Street Journal recently reported that federal tax credits cover 50% of the costs of an offshore wind farm and more than 80% of the cost onshore.
I applaud President Trump for saying he wants to end renewable subsidies. Let’s hope this matter is a priority for the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In fact, it’s time for Oklahoma to launch our own DOGE to eliminate wasteful subsidies for green energy projects, reduce spending from record-high appropriations, and stand guard against special interest giveaways that help a few at the expense of the many.
Comments