OkcPets Magazine July 2022

18 OKC Pets • July / August 2022 investment considers environmental and climate impacts; social — how the business or project manages its relationships with affected communi- ties; and governance — oversight of the business or project. Never audited by an independent, external auditor and already in debt $1.7 billion, the OTA will incur another $5 billion in debt to build these unwanted toll roads. No environmental studies have been done to justify this work, and the communities affected have resoundingly rejected the plans. The OTA has ignored pleas from home, farm, and business owners as well as city, county, and state officials and has actively worked to prevent legislation that would hold it accountable to the people — not just to a seven-mem- ber, appointed board of directors. The OTA toll road projects and the bonds it will sell to borrow money to build these unnecessary roads fail to meet any ESG criteria. The revenue the OTA collects by charging Oklahomans to drive on these debt-financed roads is then used to pay back bond investors — both the amount borrowed and inter- est. Unfortunately, most of the toll roads do not pay for themselves. For example, the revenue collected on the Kickapoo Turnpike is one-sixth to one-fifth what the OTA projected. The state gains nothing except for potentially slightly improved travel time for people who want to bypass Noble, Norman, Moore, and Oklahoma City. And the hardwork- ing, tax-paying citizens of Oklahoma have to pay every time they use the roads that the OTA built. Alternatives to Toll Roads When I came to Oklahoma 18 years ago, I was moved by people singing “Oklahoma!” at public gatherings. One line in particular stood out to me: “We know we belong to the land and the land we belong to is grand.” OTA is destroying this grand land without any study or rationale to support the irreversible devastation. Instead of building more toll roads using a strategy crafted by the legisla- ture in the 1950s, the state should be using twenty-first-century knowledge and technology to address congestion and consider toll-free high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, carpool parking lots, improved bus routes, light rail, incentives for home officing, and even bicycle lanes. But the OTA has only one tool — toll roads. As a state, we know better; we can do better. Let’s protect the grand land we love, the wildlife that roams it, the water we rely on, and the people who have made their lives in these wonderful places in Oklahoma. To learn more about how you can help bring accountability to the OTA and help stop turnpikes throughout our state, visit www.pikeoffota.com. Fo r more information on WildCare, visit www.wildcareoklahoma.org. We are READY for you! 440 NW 11TH ST • OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73103 (405) 525-9779 EDWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL (405) 843-3431 www.edwardsenvironmentalcorp.com Email: george@edwardsenvironmentalcorp.co m BEFORE AFTER REGROW PET URINE SPOTS Ava ilable to buy at Marcum’s Nursery, Eckroat See d Co., Pawtopia Pet Stores and Britton Feed & Seed. Estimated Total Losses Caused by Toll Road— Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Only Homes: 665 Large structures: 812 Cemetery: 1 Parcels of land: 1,021 Depreciated properties within a half mile: Homes: 4,730 Large structures: 1,201 This is an estimate based on the map provid- ed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The OTA has not released any specific information. Source: PikeOffOTA.com Projected toll roads throughout Oklahoma.