** Creating jobs by cleaning up orphan wells
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TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

A new analysis finds plugging and cleaning up abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells could generate 120,000 jobs ([link removed]) while also protecting communities and clean water.

The report ([link removed]) was compiled by the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy ([link removed]) and Resources for the Future ([link removed]) . The authors noted that more than 76,000 oil and gas industry jobs were lost between February and June this year, disproportionately impacting rural economies.

The EPA estimates there are more than 2 million unplugged abandoned oil and gas wells across the country, as well as hundreds of thousands of orphaned wells with unknown or bankrupt owners. Bonding requirements for oil and gas producers have never been sufficient ([link removed]) to ensure companies clean up after themselves, leading to today's backlog of unplugged wells.

The authors say a widespread, coordinated effort to address the problem would reduce local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while creating jobs, costing around $2 billion to address the known inventory of 56,600 orphaned wells. Expanding the program to identify, prioritize and plug 500,000 wells would cost between $12 and $24 billion.
Quick hits


** Outdoor pack manufacturer blasted by customers after hosting Interior Secretary Bernhardt, Ivanka Trump near Boundary Waters
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City Pages ([link removed]) | Duluth News Tribune ([link removed])


** Native co-chair of state task force excluded from Bernhardt/Ivanka photo op on missing and murdered Indigenous women
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Minneapolis Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Conservationists cap 30-year preservation effort with protection of Banded Peak Ranch in southern Colorado
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Orphan well cleanup program could create jobs, clean air
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy ([link removed])


** Wyoming revives challenge to Obama-era methane regulations
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])


** Agencies open comment period on proposed road through the heart of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area
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Utah Public Radio ([link removed])


** Draft Barasso bill would eliminate wilderness protections on more than 150,000 acres in Wyoming
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W ([link removed]) yoFile ([link removed])


** Black Lives Matter meets Yellowstone as Park Service's racist past enters the spotlight
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Montana Free Press ([link removed])
Quote of the day
That is part of the historic trauma that our American Indians have carried for hundreds and hundreds of years, where the federal government is setting things up, putting things in order for the good of the Indian people and not taking into consideration their viewpoints."
—Minnesota State Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein
Standing Rock Sioux member and co-chair of Minnesota task force on missing and murdered Indigenous women
Minneapolis Star-Tribune ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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Happy #NationalParentsDay ([link removed]) ! Exploration on #yourpubliclands ([link removed]) is best enjoyed in the company of your family and friends! Photo: North Fork of the American River in California; Bob Wick, BLM. #RecreateResponsibly ([link removed]) 🌈🌻🦉🌸🦎

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