Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** WY lawmakers look to pay oil companies for public lands drilling if royalties increase
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Monday, February 7, 2022
Pronghorn in front of oil and gas rigs in Wyoming | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ([link removed])

Wyoming lawmakers are once again advancing legislation to prop up the oil and gas industry. Last Thursday, legislators on the Select Federal Natural Resources Management Committee unanimously passed a proposal ([link removed]) that would reimburse oil and gas companies for the cost of any increased royalties for drilling on national public lands. Under the proposal, regulators would write checks to oil and gas companies "equal to" any federal royalty increases using funds from state taxes on fossil fuel production, then backfill those funds with royalties the state receives for drilling on federal lands.

The move comes as the Interior Department is considering raising the rate ([link removed]) charged for producing oil and gas on public lands, a rate that has remained unchanged for more than a century at a level far below those charged by most Western states. In recent years, multiple analyses, including a 2017 report ([link removed]) by the Government Accountability Office, have found that raising oil and gas royalty rates would generate substantially more revenue for taxpayers, while having a negligible impact on production.

While increased revenues from higher royalty rates would benefit states around the West by providing funding for schools and much-needed infrastructure, it seems Wyoming legislators are more concerned with returning those revenues directly to oil industry bank accounts.
Quick hits


** Tucson, conservationists push back on water storage for controversial mine
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Arizona Republic ([link removed]) | Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])


** Biden administration rethinks approach to public lands drilling in Alaska, seeks further comment
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InsideClimate News ([link removed])


** Utah dinosaur tracks feared damaged by construction equipment
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New York Times ([link removed])


** In the Missouri Breaks of Montana, paddling into the past
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Meet the Colorado town that coal built and fire burned
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Wyoming officials push to keep public lands oil and gas royalty rates low, offer tax rebates
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | WyoFile ([link removed])


** Opinion: Transition to clean energy can help Western communities
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Opinion: Record numbers of people enjoying our public lands is a good thing—if we fund them
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Could it be that the people who make money selling gas want to keep us all hooked on gas?”
—Renee Millard Chacon and Jamie Valdez, Colorado Newsline ([link removed])
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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Congratulations and good luck to all the athletes representing @TeamUSA ([link removed]) in the Winter Olympics and Paralympics games - know that your country couldn’t be prouder of you. Photo at @OlympicNP ([link removed]) by J Berger

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