Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Putting a price tag on oil well cleanup
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023
BLM Wyoming
The cost of cleaning up oil and gas wells on national public land could be more than $17 billion ([link removed]) , according to a new report from Public Citizen. The report found ([link removed]) that drillers have only secured bonds for one to six percent of the potential total cleanup cost, leaving taxpayers exposed for the rest if oil companies go bankrupt.
The Biden administration is in the process of finalizing rules ([link removed]) that would increase the bonding rates required to drill on public lands, to more fully cover the cost of cleaning up abandoned wells.
In its report, Public Citizen looked at more than 89,000 active wells on public land. Based on reclamation costs between $35,000 and $200,000 per well, the full cost of cleanup would be between $2.9 billion and $17.7 billion. Based on the average bond posted by oil companies in a 2019 Government Accountability Office report ([link removed]) , existing bonds could cover as little as one percent of that under the highest-cost scenario.
“The boom-and-bust nature of the oil and gas industry puts taxpayers at higher risk for well cleanup,” said Alan Zibel ([link removed]) , research director at Public Citizen. “When prices fall for oil and gas, bad actors have an economic incentive to just walk away from their wells, leaving taxpayers in the lurch.”
Wyoming lawmakers see big bucks at Grand Teton
One day before the Wyoming land board meets to consider auctioning off 640 acres of state trust land inside Grand Teton National Park, state lawmakers are considering raising the price tag for a sale to the National Park Service. WyoFile reports ([link removed]) legislators are ready to propose a direct sale of $100 million, nearly $40 million more than the parcel's appraised value.
The state board of land commissioners will meet tomorrow morning to consider a recommendation to hold a public auction for the land starting at $80 million. KHOL Community Radio reports ([link removed]) a majority of the board is leaning towards delaying the auction, giving the legislature time to arrange a sale to the Park Service.
** Quick hits
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Utah oil train sent 'back to the drawing board'
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
St. George, Utah leaders predict doom if they can't build a highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area
KUER ([link removed]) | Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Colorado town wants to use geothermal energy to heat and cool its downtown
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Opinion: This tiny parcel of paradise could be devoured
New York Times ([link removed])
Gwich'in Nation travels to DC to urge protections for Arctic refuge
KTUU ([link removed])
New Mexico governor proposes $500 million taxpayer fund to create market for treated fracking wastewater
Associated Press ([link removed])
Opinion: Don't fall for Big Oil's carbon capture deceptions
Scientific American ([link removed])
Biden to sign executive order improving Tribal access to federal funds
The Hill ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” It’s not just about land. It’s about our identity within, it’s about our future generations. And right now, Alaska is thawing four times faster than the rest of the world, and we are seeing drastic changes, and drilling is the last thing that we need there.”
—Bernadette Demientieff, Gwich’in Steering Committee Executive Director, KTUU ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usfws ([link removed])
Sandhill cranes are settled in at their wintering grounds in New Mexico. Not all populations of sandhill cranes migrate, but the ones that spend winter at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge fly all the way from Canada. They'll stay in New Mexico until late January before starting the return trip up across the Great Plains to their summer breeding grounds again.
Photo: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
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