Powder River Breaks Newsletter July-August 2021
July – August 2021, Volume 49, Number 4 Powder River is excited to announce the launch of our new campaign to protect Wyoming ratepayers and promote a just transition from higher-cost coal generation to lower-cost renewable energy. Our new project, the Wyoming Association of Ratepayers, supports affordable, reliable, equitable, and environmentally responsible electricity. We stand […]
Report on Federal Leasing Pause Finds No Dip Western States’ Economies
The pause on oil and gas leasing President Biden ordered upon taking office has a minimal effect on national and western regional economies, according to a new report by the Conservation Economics Institute (CEI). In fact, the analysis finds that the oil and gas industry currently holds leases worth decades of drilling opportunities. The study, “Economic Effects […]
Powder River Breaks Newsletter May – June 2021
May – June 2021, Volume 49, Number 3 Regenerative agriculture, a management system for ranchers built on following nature’s lead, is rapidly gaining attention. The system embodies the critical role that livestock producers can play in reviving depleted soils being rapidly lost to desertification. The practices increase soil health, water retention, and sequestration of carbon […]
Powder River Breaks Newsletter March – April 2021
March – April 2021, Volume 49, Number 2 Wyoming’s dependence on coal means that the entire economy is in transition as markets shift to cheaper and cleaner sources of energy. Finding grassroots solutions to this reality has been Powder River Basin Resource Council’s work for some time. Last spring, we launched our Reclaiming and Growing […]
Conservation Groups Move to Defend Federal Leasing Pause
This week Powder River Basin Resource Council joined a broad coalition of conservation and tribal groups filing motions to intervene to defend the Department of Interior’s pause on federal oil and gas leasing pending the agency’s comprehensive review of the program. With this action, the groups seek to defend the leasing pause against two lawsuits […]
ESM & Interior Reach Troubling Deal on Unpaid Royalties in Blackjewel Bankruptcy
On Friday, Feb. 19, the Department of Interior, Eagle Specialty Materials (ESM), and the attorneys in Blackjewel’s bankruptcy case released a settlement agreement for unpaid royalties on federal coal leases mined by Blackjewel, and its predecessor, Contura, at the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. According to the legal filing, […]
Westerners support reforming broken leasing system for federal coal, oil and gas
President Biden today signed several executive orders, including a pause on further leasing of oil and gas by the federal government, and a review of all existing leasing and permitting practices related to fossil fuel development on public lands. Federal mineral leasing programs have been repeatedly criticized by government watchdogs for wasting public resources. Additionally, […]
Powder River’s 2020 Annual Report
This is Powder River Basin Resource Council’s 2020 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
Conservation groups: Federal Powder River Basin coal plan violates court order
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 […]
Bankruptcies and Inadequate Bonds Threaten Taxpayers, Landowners with Orphan Oil and Gas Wells
In the midst of historically low oil prices and plummeting demand due to coronavirus restrictions, inadequate federal and state reclamation bonding requirements make it easier for deeply indebted oil and gas operators to declare bankruptcy and walk away from orphaned wells en masse. A recent report by the Western Organization of Resource Councils examining the […]
