Despite oil industry howling, companies are awash in public lands drilling permits
Aug 10, 2021
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Backyard Problems
Extractive industries keep leaving toxic messes across the West. Will history continue to repeat itself? The Western United States has a long history of extractive industrial activity. Since the 1800s, westward colonization has both driven and relied upon the extraction of the West’s resources, from furs to timber to gold and other minerals. Extractive activity […]
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Learn MoreThe oil industry’s public lands stockpile
The Center for Western Priorities’ digital interactive report on the oil industry’s public lands stockpile examines the millions of acres of idle leases stockpiled by the oil and gas industry. The report maps out oil and gas leases and finds that the oil industry is currently sitting on 9.9 million acres of idle leases across ten Western states—47.4 percent of all leases in the region.
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In 2020, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced his department was formally removing the gray wolf from the endangered species list, opening the door for states to allow increased hunting and trapping. An analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that the Trump administration ignored overwhelming public opposition in delisting the gray wolf.
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