Oklahoma’s drinking water is at risk from fracking, new report finds

In some parts of the country, people are urged to pray for rain. In Oklahoma, the governor once told people to pray for oil prices.

But as oil and gas fracking continue to spread throughout the state, Oklahomans’ concern might be more about the industry’s impact on water supplies and less about the industry’s profits.

A report, commissioned by the Clean Water Fund and released Thursday, found there are several oil and gas wastewater wells that could be injecting into drinking water supplies in Oklahoma. In addition, there are private wells whose supply could be overlapping with wastewater disposal wells permitted by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC).

Oklahoma Lawmakers Want Men to Approve All Abortions

Something unexpected happened in the Oklahoma Legislature on February 8 that had Karo Chowning feeling pretty optimistic. That morning, lawmakers in the House Public Health Committee blocked one anti-abortion bill and a second was tabled without discussion.

It was certainly unusual for a deeply conservative Republican government that over the years has distinguished itself by passing some of the strictest abortion regulations in the country — regardless of whether those measures are unconstitutional, which many certainly are. Since 2011, lawmakers in Oklahoma have passed 20 such measures, a number of which have been blocked by the courts or are tied up in litigation.

Oklahoma’s Legislature Passed A Bill Making It A Felony To Perform An Abortion

Oklahoma’s legislature passed a first-in-the-nation law Thursday that would make it a felony for abortion providers to perform or induce the procedure.

Senate Bill 1552 now heads to the desk of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R). It contains no exceptions for cases of rape and incest or to protect the health of a pregnant person. (Abortions necessary to save the mother’s life are acceptable under the law.) Doctors would be barred from obtaining a license to practice medicine in the state if they violated the law, which refers to performing an abortion as “unprofessional conduct.” The minimum punishment for the law would be one year in jail.

Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin Suggests Businesses Post Notice Before Discriminating Against Patrons

A Democratic state representative in Oklahoma has offered up an unusual amendment to the state's Religious Freedom Act that would reportedly give businesses the option to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, but would require those establishments to be upfront about it.

In the amendment, Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin suggests that wedding-related companies "not wanting to participate" in a business exchange based on the "sexual orientation, gender identity or race of either party" shall "shall post notice of such refusal in a manner clearly visible to the public in all places of business, including websites," according to The Gayly Oklahoman.

Oklahoma Lawmaker: I Don’t Care If Death Row Inmates Are ‘Fed To Lions’

On Tuesday, an Oklahoma inmate named Clayton Lockett was slowly tortured to death after a botched execution left him conscious and convulsing while strapped to a gurney. He eventually died of a heart attack 43 minutes into this ordeal.

Oklahoma Will Charge Customers Who Install Their Own Solar Panels

Oklahoma residents who produce their own energy through solar panels or small wind turbines on their property will now be charged an additional fee, the result of a new bill passed by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin (R).

On Monday, S.B. 1456 passed the state House 83-5 after no debate. The measure creates a new class of customers: those who install distributed power generation systems like solar panels or small wind turbines on their property and sell the excess energy back to the grid. While those with systems already installed won’t be affected, the new class of customers will now be charged a monthly fee — a shift that happened quickly and caught many in the state off guard.

Governor Bans Minimum Wage Increases And Paid Sick Leave Laws

At a time when many states and cities are working passing minimum wage increases, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has gone in the opposite direction and signed a law banning cities from passing higher wages. The bill also bans them from enacting paid sick days or vacation requirements.

Oklahoma Plan For School Storm Shelters Thwarted By Tax Cut

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — After a huge tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City suburbs this spring and demolished two elementary schools, killing seven children, a longtime legislator thought the time was ripe for the state to act on a well-known problem.

Although Oklahoma averages more than 50 tornadoes a year, and sometimes gets more than 100, about 60 percent of public schools have no shelters. Cash-strapped districts can't afford to build them.

Rep. Joe Dorman, who represents the small farming town of Rush Springs, proposed a bond issue, taking advantage of the state's rebounding economy and revenue from a business tax that was already on the books.

Oklahoma Disaster Insurance Payments May Be Inadequate

As people in central Oklahoma emerge from the wreckage of the tornado that flattened entire neighborhoods, some will face another bitter realization: Residents of Moore and neighboring areas may lack insurance coverage to compensate them for the loss of all of their worldly possessions.

About 98 percent of homeowners carry insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Standard homeowner and business insurance policies cover wind damage from tornadoes and thunderstorms, but some individuals and companies choose to buy less insurance than they need to keep costs down. As a result, some Oklahoma homeowners and businesses will find that they lack enough insurance to fully rebuild, even though their policies may cover a portion of their losses.

Budget Cuts Endanger Agency That Saved Countless Lives in Oklahoma

Many heroes asserted themselves in Oklahoma yesterday, from the first responders digging through the rubble for survivors, to the teachers who shielded children from the massive tornado that touched down as the school day was ending.

While perhaps not as heralded, certainly the experts at the National Weather Service deserve some credit for saving lives as well. One of the best ways to prevent high body counts when tornadoes barrel through populated areas is to warn residents ahead of time—which is the job of the NWS. They did it well yesterday, issuing early warnings allowed countless people to seek shelter before mayhem arrived.

Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster Relief

WASHINGTON -- As frantic rescue missions continued Monday in Oklahoma following the catastrophic tornadoes that ripped through the state, it appeared increasingly likely that residents who lost homes and businesses would turn to the federal government for emergency disaster aid. That could put the state's two Republican senators in an awkward position.

Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans, are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief.

Keystone XL: TransCanada Seeks Restraining Order Against Oklahoma Opponents

Doug Parr wasn't shy with his description of TransCanada's tactics, including those the pipeline company employed on Monday in an attempt to bar people in Oklahoma from disrupting progress on the company's proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

"Corporate shenanigans," he called them.

Keystone XL Oklahoma Opposition: A History Of Oil And A Future On The Line

In March 1912, one lucky wildcatter struck black gold in Drumright, Okla.

One hundred and one years later, Wheeler No. 1 is still pumping -- and north-central Oklahoma remains "deeply engrained in oil," said Gwen Ingram, a local artist and yoga instructor.

Ingram worries that this culture of crude has numbed residents to the latest addition to the region's spiderweb of oil wells and pipelines: TransCanada's Keystone XL.

"This is not your grandfather's oil," she said of the Alberta, Canada, oil sands heavy crude that the company plans to push through the pipeline all the way south to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. "But people don't want to hear that."

'Rise up to defend land and water': Oklahoma grandmother takes action against Keystone XL

Oklahoma grandmother Nancy Zorn, 79, locked herself to a piece of heavy machinery Tuesday morning in protest of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline construction, halting work on a construction site of the tar sands harbinger for several hours.

Starting early in the morning, Zorn locked herself to the large 'excavator', latching a bike lock around her neck to the machine.

"Right now our neighbors in Arkansas are feeling the toxic affect of tar sands on their community. Will Oklahoma neighborhoods be next?" Zorn asked, referring to the thousands of barrels of tar sands oil which spilled out of an Arkansas pipeline last week.

South leg of Keystone XL from Oklahoma to Texas hits halfway mark, company says

OKLAHOMA CITY — While the debate continues over whether the United States will approve a proposed oil conduit from Canada to the Gulf Coast, the segment from Cushing, Okla., to the Texas Gulf Coast is halfway toward completion and could be transporting oil by the end of the year.

President Barack Obama travelled to Oklahoma nearly a year ago to tout construction of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline from the Cushing oil hub to Houston-area refineries. A decision on whether to allow the longer pipeline awaits the results of a U.S. State Department review that is necessary because the oil would be carried across an international border.

Oklahoma Personhood Bill Ignites Feminist Movement

Oklahoma Sen. Judy McIntyre (D), one of four women in the 48-member state Senate, looked out over a sea of homemade signs at a fetal personhood protest at the state Capitol on Tuesday and spotted one that she wanted to hold herself.

"If I wanted the government in my womb," the sign said in painted blue letters, "I'd fuck a Senator."

At the risk of offending some of her mostly male Republican colleagues, who recently voted to pass a controversial fetal personhood bill, she grabbed the sign and posed with it for photos.

"I was so excited about the fact that the women in Oklahoma have finally begun to wake up and fight for their rights," she told HuffPost. "I saw a sea of signs that caught my eye, but this one in particular -- I loved its offensive language, because it's just as offensive for Republicans of Oklahoma to do what they're doing as it relates to women's bodies. I don't apologize for it."

The "Personhood Act," introduced by Sen. Brian Crain (R), would give legal personhood rights to embryos from the moment of fertilization. A similar measure was rejected in Mississippi, one of the most conservative states in the country, because legal and medical experts raised concerns that the bill could ban some forms of birth control, in vitro fertilization and stem cell research.