** Oil collapse devastates Western state budgets
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THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020
Wyoming State Capitol, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])
The collapse of oil prices and coronavirus pandemic are devastating the budgets of Western states that have become dependent on oil revenue. Wyoming lawmakers this week were warned of a projected $1.5 billion drop in revenue ([link removed]) , leading to a general fund shortfall of nearly $900 million—roughly one third of the state's budget—by June 2022.
The state budget director ([link removed]) pointed out that a cut of that magnitude would require eliminating every single person employed in state government, or the entire state education system. Legislators now have to consider a combination of massive spending cuts and tax increases in order to address the collapse of the energy industry.
In New Mexico, an estimated $2 billion revenue drop may be somewhat offset by the state's substantial reserve funds ([link removed]) , according to the head of the state Senate finance committee. But avoiding major spending cuts will depend on New Mexico getting significant flexibility in how it can spend federal COVID relief funds. And if oil production remains low in the long term, New Mexico lawmakers may need to overhaul the state's tax code in the legislative session that begins next January.
** Former BLM state director blasts agency leadership
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Jim Kenna, the former Bureau of Land Management state director for California, ripped into the leadership of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt ([link removed]) in a High Country News opinion piece. Kenna, who retired in 2015 after 40 years of public service, warned that “Bernhardt’s aggressive agenda has favored corporate interests. This push has continued despite the pandemic, ignoring public outcry against despoiling cherished Western landscapes.”
Quick hits
** National Park Service to let Alaska hunters kill bear cubs in dens
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The Guardian ([link removed])
** Winners and losers under four Trump regulatory rollbacks
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High Country News ([link removed])
** Administration lets polluters stop paying fines under cover of pandemic
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The Guardian ([link removed])
** Tribes, conservation groups lose bid to stop uranium mine near Grand Canyon
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Arizona Daily Sun ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Grijalva calls on White House to block mystery rule giving royalty cuts to drillers
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Feds propose grazing on Sonoran Desert National Monument
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])
** Opinion: Interior secretary’s former lobbying firm cashes in on Coronavirus
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Boulder Weekly ([link removed])
** Opinion: Bureau of Land Management leaders have lost their way
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High Country News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Secretary Bernhardt panders to oil and gas interests by reducing royalties, handing out small business loans meant for local businesses, and leasing millions of acres for pennies on the dollar. His actions—carried out under the cover of a national emergency—do not serve taxpayers, state and local governments, or the public interest.”
—Former BLM state director Jim Kenna, High Country News ([link removed])
Picture this
** @usfws ([link removed])
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The threatened desert tortoise of the Mojave Desert can completely withdraw its head and limbs within its shell, leaving only horny scales visible to predators. But it can also stretch for a snack of herbs, grasses, cacti or wildflowers. Photo by Roy C. Averill-Murray/USFWS
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