AENN

SEAN MURPHY of the Associated Press is reporting the wind game in Oklahoma maybe over. The so called wind farms that have created visual blight, destroyed millions of raptor birds and polluted untold millions of acres of land with strip mining for magnet manufacturing may have run out of money.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A battle is shaping up at Oklahoma‘s Capitol over the burgeoning wind industry that is facing fierce opposition from some oil-and-gas leaders and critics who say the state has been too generous with incentives. Oklahoma rolled out the red carpet for the industry more than a decade ago with subsidies that now cost the state tens of millions of dollars each year.

Now those subsidies have all been ended, but there is still a push to impose a new production tax on wind energy and maybe even cap previously promised incentives.

Supporters of wind say the state is going back on its word and threatening an industry that has proven to be beneficial to the state, offering a new revenue stream for landowners and local school districts.