As part of his reinvigorated effort to pander to the right-wing rural yahoos who decide Oklahoma Republican primaries, Attorney General Gentner "Beef Burger" Drummond participated in a rally at the State Capitol this week to protest “Green Energy.”
You know, that pesky, more environmentally friendly form of energy that’s bad because Oklahoma oil and gas companies don’t make enough money from it.
The event was organized by a motley crew of oil overlords, OTA opponents, and other angry right-wing libertarian theocrats who drink black, tarry Kool-Aid. Gentner—probably the most reasonable of Oklahoma’s conservative politicos—did look a bit out of place.
Here’s his tweet about it:
Although he looked like a pair of brown shoes in a land of tuxedos, Gentner fit right in when it came to being a hypocrite and/or jumping to fast, incorrect conclusions that result in the spread of false and misleading information.
For example, according to this Tulsa World article about the rally, Drummond apparently began his speech by sharing his lack of knowledge about State Capitol operations:
The rally featured speakers including Attorney General Gentner Drummond, state Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, and a surprise appearance from State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
“Thank you for braving the cold out there into this very warm and receiving Capitol,” Drummond said to the crowd. “And you know what? Our warmth today was not brought to us by green energy!”
The Oklahoma Capitol building has been heated through renewable geothermal energy sources since 1990, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
To be fair to Gentner, I don’t think too many people are—or at least, were—aware that the State Capitol uses geothermal energy for its heating needs.
We do live in Oklahoma, so this is kind of like someone learning that Cattleman’s gets its steak from Ben E. Keith and not the Stockyards next door. Like most people, I assume he probably thought the entire Capitol complex was powered by the oil wells out front or that one random windmill you can see from the highway.
What’s up with that thing?
I guess the difference between our general lack of knowledge and Gentner’s is that we aren’t standing at a podium trying to vilify the more environmentally friendly and cost-effective forms of green energy that brought everyone warmth that day.
Anyway, this should probably serve as a warning to Gentner and his campaign team: they may want to dot their I’s, cross their T’s, and check their energy sources before making big sweeping assumptions.
With his special announcement coming this Monday, I have a feeling everything he says and does will be under a much bigger microscope.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
