This week is Green Week, but for the Oklahoma State Legislature, the entire legislative session has been marked by “green” bill proposals.

State lawmakers have proposed several bills dealing with green issues and incentivizing alternative energy use, including some from House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, that encourage use of wind and geothermal energy, compressed natural gas and electric vehicles in Oklahoma.

Political science professor Keith Gaddie said the influx of green bill proposals may be attributed to the fact that environmentalism is becoming more popular nationally.

“In the last election, green pretty much won,” he said.

In Oklahoma’s last election, Republicans also won. This session is the first time in state history that Republicans control both legislative houses.

Gaddie said the conventional wisdom is Democrats have issue ownership over environmentalism, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

The Republican agenda set forth before the session began emphasized making the state more energy independent, and Benge’s own proposals have taken steps to promote alternative energy sources, like wind energy.

State Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman, said state Republicans understand the importance of being good stewards to the environment.

“I think that there’s been a misconception that Republicans are anti-environment,” Martin said.

Gaddie said good stewardship to the environment has been part of traditional conservatism for a long time. He said a lot of early conservation laws came out of Republican Congresses, and Republican President Teddy Roosevelt was a proponent of conservation.

He said there also is room for environmentalism within the ideals of evangelical Republicans.

“It’s consistent with faith to be a good steward to the environment,” he said.

Green measures can be economically beneficial, making them more attractive to lawmakers from both parties, said Jim DiPeso, vice president for policy and communications for the non-profit group Republicans for Environmental Protection.

“My guess would be that legislators are seeing economic advantages to green bills,” DiPeso said.

Wind energy is one of the areas where economic advantages can be found, he said. Texas is a leader in wind energy production because people there realized the economic benefits to be gained by prioritizing the energy source, he said.

Being a good steward to the land can be compared to being a good steward to an investment, DiPeso said. If one takes good care of the environment, it will remain healthy and continue to provide resources, just like when one pays attention to an investment, he said.

“In many ways a lot of Republicans, you know, have forgotten about that,” DiPeso said.

But he said he thinks there have been some signs that some Republicans are rediscovering their conservative heritage.

State Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said he thinks both parties understand the need to promote environmentalism for the benefit of future generations, and that Benge has done a good job of bringing the parties together on environmental issues.

But State Rep. Wallace Collins, D-Norman, said Oklahoma lawmakers could be doing more to be green.

He said he is pleased wind energy is being emphasized, but there are still many issues that are not being addressed, such as pollution caused by auto traffic in Oklahoma City.

“There’s certainly room for improvement,” he said. He said he would like to see lawmakers take steps to reduce traffic, like building railways between cities in the state.

“There’s a lot of things that could be done, and we need to be looking into them,” Collins said.