Each year since 1985, the Oklahoma Academy has gleaned feedback from the public and used it to give policymakers recommendations about a range of issues. This year’s topic — energy — should generate plenty of ideas.
The academy’s three-day town hall this fall is titled “Oklahoma Energy: Optimizing Our Resources for the Future.” It’s certainly timely.
Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry, of course, is vital to the state’s economy and has been for generations. Yet Oklahoma has made great strides in renewable energy as well, particularly wind — the state is No. 3 nationally in operational wind energy capacity.
Academy officials note that according to the state Department of Commerce, the energy industry employs more than 100,000 in Oklahoma, with 10,000 jobs expected to be added by 2025. In the past five years, the state’s colleges and universities have produced roughly 7,000 degrees annually in the energy sector.
However, the academy said in a recent news release, “when we are not prepared for the future of the energy industry, we as Oklahomans lose.”
Julie Knutson, the academy’s president and CEO, says Oklahoma “is on the forefront of new technologies of wind, solar, battery power and water treatment solutions.”
“With the upcoming changes that will be occurring, we must prepare now to meet them and to lead the way,” Knutson says.
The academy, a nonprofit created by former Gov. Henry Bellmon in 1967, prides itself on being nonpartisan. Attendees to its annual town halls come from across the state and the ideological spectrum. As Knutson put it in announcing this year’s event, the organization “must not allow polarized and biased positions to impede or even prevent progress” when formulating policy.
by THE OKLAHOMAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: Wed, July 17, 2019 1:04 AM Updated: Wed, July 17, 2019 1:25 AM
Original Article here: https://oklahoman.com/article/5636369/academy-wants-oklahomans-views-on-energy