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An updated geospatial analysis from The Wilderness Society and Center for Western Priorities found that since 1987, 30 percent of public lands and minerals leased to oil and gas companies were sold for $2.00 an acre or less.
The analysis found the oil and gas industry currently holds 22.1 million acres of leases on public lands in ten Western states, and that nearly half of those leases are sitting idle today, preventing those lands from being actively managed for conservation and recreation while generating as little as $1.50 per acre each year for taxpayers.
The analysis highlights the fiscal irresponsibility of the Trump administration’s efforts to offer millions more acres to oil and gas companies despite the lack of competitive demand. 2.7 million acres that failed to sell at auction are currently available for purchase at $1.50 per acre, even as drillers begin to go bankrupt due to the collapsed oil market.
Mustafa Santiago Ali on Earth Day at 50
Environmental justice advocate and former EPA official Mustafa Santiago Ali joined CWP's “Go West, Young Podcast” for a wide-ranging conversation about the Trump administration, what coronavirus has to do with environmental protection, and how Earth Day has evolved ahead of next week's 50th anniversary. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotifiy, or Google Podcasts.
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Nobody in this office asked, ‘Well, why is the secretary going out to Nevada?’ And nobody bothered to ask that it wasn’t an official thing, right? It was for him to talk to a freaking hockey team about personal stuff.”
