In response to Oklahoma’s record drought and heat wave, Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK) called for a statewide day of prayer on Sunday to pray for rain. For 47 straight days, temperatures in Oklahoma City have been above 90 degrees. Most of the state is in extreme to exceptional drought. There have been over 140 wildfires in the state. Outdoor burning is banned in most of the state under an executive order issued Thursday by Fallin. She also told her constituents that if enough pray, God will come to their rescue:

For the safety of our firefighters and our communities and the well-being of our crops and livestock, this state needs the current drought to come to an end. The power of prayer is a wonderful thing, and I would ask every Oklahoman to look to a greater power this weekend and ask for rain.

“I think if we have a lot of people praying, it moves the heart of God,” Fallin told CBS News. Fallin’s neighbor, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), issued an “official proclamation drawing on his constitutional authority designating three days as Days of Prayer for Rain” back in April, after which the Texas drought has only gotten much worse.

In 2007, Fallin, then a U.S. congresswoman, laughed off greenhouse pollution, saying people “need to be more concerned about global warming in the U.S. caused by a nuclear attack.” Earlier this year, Fallin attacked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for attempting to enforce clean air and clean water laws on her state’s oil and gas industry.

In contrast, the Catholic Church wants people motivated by faith to take real action against climate disasters: “We call on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.”

“The most important immediate step that can be taken at the federal level is to pass and implement national legislation requiring sufficient economy-wide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through cost-effective, market-based mechanisms such as a cap-and-trade program,” say the leaders of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, including Oklahoma’s Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr, Bishop James D. Leggett, Dr. Doug Samples, Rev. Jewelle Stewart, Rev. Scott Freeman, and Rev. Dr. Craig Groeschel.

Oklahoma is the epicenter of the nation’s growing climate disasters, with the nation’s taxpayers paying most of the funds to recover from the extreme storms, fires, and drought.

The Wonk Room has previously identified seven key U.S. Senate races and fourteen U.S. House races between a vote for climate action and a global warming denier. Today, the Wonk Room highlights four gubernatorial races which could shut down the clean energy revolution in the Midwest. In Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, four Democratic governors who have supported clean energy may be replaced by Republicans who have expressed fealty to big oil. The Republican candidates — Terry Branstad in Iowa, Sen. Sam Brownback in Kansas, Rep. Mary Fallin in Oklahoma, and Matt Mead in Wyoming — hold commanding leads in the polls over their Democratic opponents. The Republicans mock global warming as a conspiracy, doubt that it is caused by manmade pollution, and promote the expansion of the coal and oil industries in their states.

The heartland of America is under extreme threat from the destructive power of global warming, including increasingly frequent catastrophic storms, heat waves, and drought. Furthermore, by denying the opportunity of clean energy jobs, these potential governors risk turning their states into economic wastelands.

IOWA – Terry Branstad
KANSAS – Sam Brownback
OKLAHOMA – Mary Fallin
WYOMING – Matt Mead

IOWA

Former governor Terry Branstad is leading Gov. Chet Culver (D-IA) in the race to run Iowa’s government. Remarkably, even though Iowa is increasingly devastated by catastrophic floods, Branstad’s only public policy position on global warming pollution is:

– To “wholeheartedly” support a coal-fired power plant opposed by NASA scientist Jim Hansen because it would emit 5.9 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, and

– To support the construction of a South Dakota oil refinery near the Iowa border that will emit 19 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Furthermore, Branstad has attacked Culver’s $875 million flood recovery plan, falsely claiming “it saddled Iowans with excessive debt.”

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