Oil Oligarchy Rules Oklahoma

In recent blogs, I have discussed how President George Bush’s fiscal policies and priorities continue to hurt red states such as Oklahoma. My argument is that Bush manipulated emotional issues such as American nationalism and religious “wedge” beliefs to get Oklahomans and other red-staters to vote against their economic interests. Now that the election is over, Oklahomans can expect a continuing stagnant job market, higher living costs, higher health costs, cuts in federal funding for education, Medicare, and Medicaid, cuts in farm subsidies, and a “let-them-die” attitude towards rural, Oklahoma towns.

But, of course, there is one small group of Oklahomans making out like bandits on the backs of the majority of hard-working Oklahomans in George Bush’s America. That would be the top stockholders and chief executives of the local oil and gas companies such as Kerr McGee, Chesapeake, and Devon. As gasoline prices reach record levels, one has to wonder if Oklahomans and all Americans will allow this massive shift of wealth into the hands of a few oil company executives and owners to continue without any oversight and regulation.

Let’s call them the energy oligarch in Oklahoma, the rich elites. It is a small, diminishing cabal (more and more large energy companies are moving from the state), and it is supported by the state’s entrenched, right-wing power structure such as The Daily Oklahoman, the state Chamber of Commerce types, and a lot of Republican politicians—U.S. Senator Tom Coburn is one of them—who get their campaigns funded with the money you pay at the pump. Their mantra has always been that what is good for local oil companies is good for the state because these companies produce jobs, pay taxes, and do charitable work.

I think this prevailing, conservative philosophy about oil companies is incredibly shortsighted, and it ultimately prevents the Oklahoma economy from diversifying and growing. It is bad for the vast majority of the state’s residents, even those ordinary hard-working people who are employed at state oil companies.

Here’s why this Oklahoma support-the-oil-companies-at-any cost ideology is wrong.

The world’s overuse of fossil fuels will ultimately be a short blip in world history. I can see future historians remembering the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as “The Oil Age,” which created a ripe environment for war, corporate greed, and the enormous neglect of the Third World countries by the oil-rich countries. Simply put, we are running out of oil and natural gas. No matter how you look at it, the world’s fossil fuel resources are finite. Now some oil experts contend the world has vast quantities of untapped oil and gas resources if we only drill deep enough, but drilling costs make that prohibitive now and in the future. Are we really ready for a reality in which we spend a half or more of our household income on energy costs, essentially to drive to work and heat our homes? Of course not. That’s why some companies are now starting to develop viable alternative forms of energy. Look at all the new hybrid cars on the market today. That is our future. This development of alternative energy sources will only increase in the years to come. Oklahoma will eventually be abandoned by the oil companies once they have sucked out the last drop of profit-producing oil from the state’s red dirt. We may all be dead by then, true, but what a terrible legacy to leave for those who come after us in Oklahoma.

This prevailing oil-companies-are-great ideology means the state will remain mired in regressive politics, which is bad for our economy. Only archconservative Republicans are going to support a national and state energy policy that supports oil monopolies and does not allow for competition by alternative energy companies. They will do so because their campaigns are funded by corporate America, including all the major oil companies. These conservatives, then, bring to the state this stagnant, status-quo politics which benefits only the richest citizens of Oklahoma. Can you imagine how much the price of oil would drop if the federal government announced a major plan to study renewable energy resources, or if it called on the automobile manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency? In addition, regressive politics do not allow for diversity in business or “thinking” or people. That, in turns, drives away some of the state’s brightest residents who must leave for the coasts to expend their intellectual energy. We get left with a handful of rich oil executives who live in modern-day fortresses (gated communities) and who could care less about the state. They, in turn, influence the state politic through campaign contributions.

The oil-companies-are-great philosophy, along with one-party Republican rule in the country, means there is an increased likelihood that oil companies will price gouge. Pundits and oil company executives are arguing that recent spikes in gasoline costs are because of increased oil demand in Indian and China, along with a diminishing oil supply. Throw in the American “summer driving season” and we are paying $2.25 a gallon for gasoline easy, and it is only going to get higher. But the Catch-22 here is that oil companies are announcing record profits, too. (This happened in the 1970s energy crisis, too.) This cannot be explained away by outside factors. Are oil companies colluding? Do they use perceived shortages and increased demand to price gouge Americans? Do not count on the Bush government to even touch this issue. When you fill up your SUV and it costs $100 or so (and soon maybe $125, $150, $200, $300, etc.), do you ever think about those large campaign contributions that helped Coburn get elected? Do you really think Coburn or U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe care about your personal gasoline costs?

Ultimately, this state has been sold an historical lie by the right-wing power structure about how oil companies help Oklahoma. It has been a form of brainwashing since Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Oil companies benefit a few Oklahoma rich elites who then ensure their financial positions by contributing to morally-challenged politicians. This is not a political and economic system that will make the state thrive in the future and give our children a decent future here. This is the old story of power and greed, and it is immoral.

Meanwhile, the cost of all consumer goods is going up as gasoline prices shoot through the roof. You can say “thank you” to Oklahoma’s oil company executives who try to brainwash us with their sanctimonious propaganda about how wonderful they are for the state’s economy.