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 […]
Corporate bailout proposed by coal lobbyists would mean shortfalls in revenue for states
The National Mining Association’s use of the COVID-19 crisis to roll back royalty rates puts revenue streams for states and coal communities dealing with the crisis in jeopardy. The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and its member groups in Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado are asking Congress and the White House to reject a recent […]
Report Shows Wyoming Has Wasted Time & Money on Failed Coal Projects
Today the Powder River Basin Resource Council (Resource Council) released a new report, “Lessons from History: Wyoming’s 30 Years of Failed Coal Upgrading Projects,” which traces the state’s legacy of coal upgrading projects from the 1980s to the present. The Resource Council researched sixteen different public and private projects that were attempted during the past […]
Powder River Breaks January – February 2020
January – February 2020, Volume 48, Number 1 Late last year, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) told Powder River that they would not be approving Aethon’s permit to discharge over 8 million gallons of polluted oil and gas wastewater a day. DEQ noted that concerns raised by citizens in writing and at public […]
Westerners Travel to Denver to Speak in Opposition to Fundamental Changes to NEPA
Denver, CO – Community leaders from across the Western U.S. traveled to Denver, Colorado today to testify at a hearing held by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the division of the White House charged with implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In the public hearing, farmers, ranchers, tribal members, environmental experts and others […]
States face massive coal mine cleanup as closures loom, says new report
More than 234 square miles remain unreclaimed in the West after five decades of mining More than a third of all land mined for coal in the Western United States awaits cleanup after a half-century of intensive strip-mining, but a weakening coal industry may be incapable of cleaning it up says a report released today […]
Powder River Breaks November – December 2019
November – December 2019, Volume 47, Number 6 On the evening of Nov. 2, nearly 150 of our members gathered for Powder River’s 47th Annual Meeting. After socializing and shopping at the silent and live auctions; the crowd filled the room at the Holiday Inn in anticipation of the conversation around how Wyoming can address […]
2019 Ad Valorem Mineral Tax Delinquency Update
Powder River Basin Resource Council has been tracking ad valorem mineral production tax (ad valorem tax) debts in 13 Wyoming counties since 2017. This year, the Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) joined our efforts and collected data from all Wyoming counties. We applaud the Select Committee on Coal/Mineral Bankruptcies for putting forth well thought-out proposals […]
Powder River & WORC Statement in Response to Cloud Peak’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Plan
Today in a Delaware bankruptcy court, a federal judge approved Cloud Peak Energy’s plan to get out of bankruptcy. A critical part of the plan is the sale of mines and other property to the Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC), a company wholly owned by the Navajo Nation. In response to the bankruptcy court decision, […]
“When Coal is No Longer King” Panel Discussion
Watch the panel discussion, When Coal is No Longer King from Powder River’s 47th Annual Meeting on November 2, 2019. This year’s theme explored how the state’s economy must change as the coal industry shrinks. Panelists Denise Parrish, Deputy Administrator of the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate; Robin Cooley, Director of the Department of Workforce Services, […]
