Oklahoma Speaker praises natural gas bill approval

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge is praising passage of federal legislation that authorizes natural gas vehicle research and development.

Benge, of Tulsa, says the state Legislature has already put in place a program to expand the number of compressed natural gas vehicles in the state, along with incentives to build up the fueling infrastructure needed to sustain that growth.

Bills signed into law this year will expand the number of vehicles running on alternative fuels like CNG and the number of publicly available fueling stations across the state.

But Benge says a nationwide effort is needed to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

The federal bill by U.S. Rep. John Sullivan of Tulsa was overwhelmingly approved by the House Tuesday. Benge says the Senate should pass the bill as soon as possible.

"It's critical that we do this, use more natural gas and natural gas vehicles," Sullivan told The Associated Press. "It's vital for jobs and the economy in Oklahoma."

Oklahoma City is home to Chesapeake Energy Corp., the nation's largest independent producer of U.S. natural gas, as well as other large natural gas producers including Devon Energy Corp. and SandRidge Energy Inc. Big energy companies including Williams Cos. Inc. and Oneok Inc. are based in Tulsa.

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