Oklahoma is one of the nation’s top energy states, so it’s no surprise that its senators and representatives are opposed to President Obama’s energy and environmental policies. What is surprising, however, is the intensity of their reactions to Obama’s proposal to do away with $4 billion worth of energy industry tax breaks.

The proposal was contained in a letter from the president to Congress, but Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Sooner state’s senior senator, noted that the Democratic Senate has voted 61-35 against the idea just a few months ago. “He now wants Congress to do exactly the opposite,” Inhofe told the Daily Oklahoman. “His letter is merely a distraction from what every American knows can help restrain rising prices: increase supply, that is, increase American energy production.”