During 2028 Olympics, Oklahomans should send world a message that they care for the environment

The Olympic Rings are pictured outside Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Jan. 15. (Photo by Spenser Heaps/For Utah News Dispatch)

Since Oklahoma City was selected as the host site for softball and canoe slalom during the 2028 Olympics, I’ve wondered how we could share the best of us – known as the Oklahoma Standard – with an international audience.

Given the previously unchallengeable power of our oil and gas corporations in our state, this might seem impossible, but we must think anew about the economic benefits of committing to the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Reaching net zero requires balancing the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.

Tom Steyer’s “ Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War ” makes the case that “we can create a cycle of innovation that delivers on the promise of the clean tech revolution.”

Were we to take that high road for the common good, protecting our climate, we could present ourselves in the Olympics, and the world’s economic markets, as a place for investing in the future.

I understand that Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration, oilman Harold Hamm , and many other Oklahomans, as well as the Koch brothers , support investing heavily in expanding oil and gas production.

But Steyer says technological breakthroughs could help. Those include investing in lighter refrigeration systems to allow the electric grid’s transmission lines to provide up to 500% more energy. There are also better ways for locating and fixing leaks that caused over 26.6 billion cubic feet of methane gas to be released between 2010 and 2021.

Artificial intelligence could play a huge role, as well as increasing the effectiveness of solar and wind energy.

A holistic “regenerative” approach to agriculture would not only reduce the pollution caused by today’s farms, but it would improve public health, and make farming far more profitable.

Given the surge of entrepreneurs coming to our city, reaching net-zero emissions could and should become a top priority.

As Oklahoma City attracts more young talent, we could build the type of future that their parents and grandparents could only dream of.

During the Olympics we could sell ourselves as innovators ready to replace industries trying to slow change and trying to protect their profits for as long as possible. Steyer believes even the staunchest defenders of fossil fuels understand that their time is running out.

And that gets back to the positive messages that Oklahoma City could share during the Olympics if we dedicated ourselves to restoring the health of our world, which is being devastated by global warming.

Of course, that would require quick action, as opposed to empty promises. But, rather than contribute to mass migrations of refugees fleeing the collapse of their food supply and unbearable heat and droughts, we could turn Oklahoma City into a place that welcomes technological pioneers fighting for our planet.

We will be receiving international attention at a time when disastrous climate changes are reaching their tipping points. If we start soon, we could then be investing in replacements for fossil fuels and building a resilient 21st century economy at a time when the whole world will be watching.

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