Western Conservation Group Sues Trump Administration Over Secretive Coal Council

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Today, on behalf of the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration for violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by refusing to make fully public the meetings and records of the National Coal Council (NCC) — an outside advisory group that makes recommendations on federal policies related to the […]

Healthy Soils Webinar to be held Oct. 29

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Learn how healthy soil leads to more productive fields, rangeland, and gardens at Powder River Basin Resource Council’s Healthy Soils Webinar on Thursday, Oct. 29 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Two presenters with years of soil building experience will present practical ideas that work for Wyoming’s soil types and climate. Caitlin Price Youngquist is the […]

New Bill Tackles Unemployment & Abandoned Wells

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – These days, skilled workers sit unemployed, while thousands of leaking, orphaned oil and gas wells litter the landscape of the West. An orphaned well is an unreclaimed well for which no owner or operator can be found, or where an owner or operator is unable to plug and reclaim a well. Orphaned […]

Wyoming Solar Projects to be Featured in National Solar Tour

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The 25th Annual National Solar Tour kicks off its virtual tour Sept. 28 and will feature Wyoming homes and businesses powered by solar energy. Powder River Basin Resource Council (Powder River) is working with the tour sponsors, Solar United Neighbors and the American Solar Energy Society, to feature 25 homes and businesses powered by solar […]

Conservation groups: Federal Powder River Basin coal plan violates court order

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BLM Plans Govern Coal Mining of 50,000 Acres, 6 Billion Tons of Coal Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to challenge a massive Powder River Basin coal mining plan that the groups say ignores alternatives to coal, oil and gas leasing and fails to publicly acknowledge the harms from coal combustion, violating federal law […]

Powder River Breaks July – August 2020

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July – August 2020, Volume 48, Number 4 In the summer of 2019, Governor Gordon, a couple of legislative leaders, and the state land office began discussions about the purchase of millions of acres of mineral rights and land owned by the financially troubled Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). The purchase entailed approximately 1 million acres of […]

Powder River Statement on Wyoming’s Failed Occidental Petroleum Land Bid

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Powder River Basin Resource Council says Wyoming has been saved from a potentially serious financial blunder. Powder River Basin Resource Council expressed optimism that Wyoming’s bid for millions of acres of land and mineral rights has apparently failed. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) is negotiating with another bidder instead. “Luckily, Wyoming seems to have dodged a bullet, […]

Remaining coal mine reclamation could create hundreds of jobs for rural Wyoming

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The collapse of the coal industry is devastating small communities across the Western United States, but reclaiming these mined lands quickly could create up to 4,800 full-time equivalent jobs per year in the critical two-to-three-year period after mine closure says a report released today by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC). The report, “Coal […]

Reclaiming & Growing Wyoming’s Future webinar series concludes July 21

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On Tuesday, July 21 Powder River Basin Resource Council will conclude its webinar series, Reclaiming & Growing Wyoming’s Future, providing education, tools, and resources available for a planned transition to a new, diversified Wyoming economy. Each session features different panelists with specific areas of expertise in transitioning resource-dependent communities. In this final webinar, Funding Wyoming’s Economic […]