Wyoming

promoted to 2ndary, fewest ppl, oversized impact, Powder Riv coal, wise use cheney

// montana Dark $ doc on resource curse small # ppl big resource base --> corruption?

see chuck gray pow

see ozone

llc farms eg datwyler

...

When contacting Wyoming Discount Registered Agent Inc., a third-party LLC agent associated to the Lander address, owner Adolph Stankus of Nevada, refused to provide Berg with any information about the actual people running businesses that are associated to the address, but told her he would forward the tax information requested to them, to which she declined.

Berg said of the corporations that have transferred into Wyoming, around 800 in Fremont and Sheridan counties were from Nevada.

There’s a similar service based in Sheridan called Wyoming Registered Agent Services LLC, with 16,941 businesses filed at its address.

Berg doesn’t believe agents like Stankus aren’t doing anything illegal, but said that actual Wyoming businesses are being put at a disadvantage when it comes to their tax burden.

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, disagreed and pointed to Wyoming state law, which says the principal-listed office of an LLC must be the actual main office for the business. Wyoming law states that a registered office is also required to be a street address located in Wyoming that must be a physical location where the business entities’ registered agent or a natural person who has an agency relationship can accept services for the business.

....

chuck gray sos

Wyoming secretary of state conducts audits of commercial registered agents

On March 18th, the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office conducted several targeted, in-person audits of commercial registered agents, including the location of 30 North Gould Street in Sheridan, Wyoming. "Our administration takes fraud and abuse of corporate filings extremely seriously, and the office works to ensure compliance by Wyoming business entities and commercial registered agents with Wyoming law,” Secretary of State Chuck Gray said in a statement. “These targeted, in-person audits of large commercial registered agents are an important part of ensuring compliance with Wyoming law, and our office also conducts regular audits to ensure compliance with the Commercial Registered Agents Act.”

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AN 8 25 right after Flood got reamed in neb?

Comments from climate change denier Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) went badly at a recent town hall in rural Pinedale.

WyoFile reports the community of Pinedale suffered alarming ozone spikes in the late 2000s, with one measurement surpassing that of Los Angeles. Residents — particularly those with preexisting respiratory conditions and asthma — had to avoid outdoor exercise on high-ozone days. WyoFile reports a doctor even advised one mother to drive her hypoxic newborn to a safer place 78 miles away from home.

So when Hageman appeared at a town hall and announced her support for “repealing” a landmark 2009 doctrine classifying greenhouse gases as pollutants and legally binding federal agencies to regulate them, attendees shouted her down.

“The endangerment finding is absolutely based upon false science,” Hageman said, prompting a chorus of boos from the July 29 crowd along with guffaws and several loud shouts of “No!”

IFrame Content

WyoFile reports Hageman tried to continue over the outburst: “CO2 [carbon dioxide] is not a pollutant. As far as the validity and the science that was the foundation for that, they cooked the books.”

But Sublette County constituents weren’t having it, reports WyoFile: “The booing continued, along with one person shouting, ‘Lie! Lie!’ as Hageman pressed on.”

Environmental Defense Fund Legislative Manager John Rutecki told WyoFile that “Wyoming didn’t get cleaner by accident,” referring to efforts to reduce ozone-inducing pollutants in Pinedale’s Upper Green River Basin. “It took years of effort by the Pinedale community and so many others.”

The “non-attainment” status issued by the EPA, which Hageman opposes, forced Wyoming air quality regulators to impose healthier standards on fossil fuel drillers, and eventually the companies themselves got onboard.

Pinedale resident Mary Lynn Worl, who attended Hegeman’s town hall, told WyoFile that her state isn’t likely to weaken federal emission rules after recent successes.

“We were never against drilling and development,” said Worl. “We wanted it done right. We wanted it to be done as safely as possible.

Read the full WyoFile report at this link.

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an 5 24

a50-year-old Wyoming state law mandating regular purges of voter rolls just resulted in the removal of more than a quarter of the Cowboy State's registered voters, according to a new report.

Local news site WyoFile reported that state authorities have removed approximately 83,500 names from its database of registered voters since 2022, which amounts to roughly 28% of Wyoming voters. State law requires that every February, the secretary of state's office has to remove all registered voters from the rolls who didn't vote in the most recent election. This means that any Wyoming voters who were registered in 2020 but didn't show up during the 2022 midterms may be surprised to learn this November that they aren't registered.

"Our concern is simply people not realizing that they’re no longer registered and not bringing with them the appropriate materials to get re-registered, because you can register at the polls," AARP spokesman Tom Lacock told WyoFile.

As Lacock mentioned, Wyoming is one of roughly 20 states that allow for same-day voter registration. According to Rock the Vote, the Cowboy State's same-day registration law allows for voters to not only register on the day of the election, but also during early voting — provided voters bring required identification documents with them

Acceptable forms of identification to register and to cast a ballot include a Wyoming driver's license or ID card, a valid U.S. passport, a tribal nation ID card, a U.S. military identification card and some forms of student ID. Prospective voters will be turned away if they try to register with just a Medicare or Medicaid card or a concealed carry permit for firearms. However, if a voter is already registered, they can obtain a ballot by showing one of those documents.

In a statement to WyoFile, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R) defended the law requiring regular purges as necessary to keep voter rolls current in the event that a registered voter dies or moves away.

"Voter roll hygiene and voter registry maintenance is extremely important to maintaining integrity and confidence in our electoral process," Gray said.

The law stipulates that voters at risk of having their names removed from Wyoming voter rolls have a letter sent to their last known address informing them that their status as a registered voter is at risk. The last round of letters went out in 2023, urging voters to contact their county clerk if they wished to remain registered.

According to Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, the enormous size of the February 2024 purge was due to the fact that the 2020 presidential election saw extremely high turnout, while the 2022 midterms — which are typically lower turnout across the U.S. — had far less interest.

"Our voter rolls were large... That’s why we ended up with so many people who were purged," Lee said.

Wyoming remains the least populated state in the U.S., though its population has seen a steady increase since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Between 2022 and 2023, the state experienced natural growth, meaning the number of new babies born outpaced the number of deaths in the state. Wyoming also saw an influx of more than 2,000 new residents in 2023, partly due to remote work opportunities allowing Americans to relocate to more affordable communities.

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an 2 24 --> guk

the man behind the conservative effort to move the judiciary to the right has ties to many of the groups and people arguing that Donald Trump should stay on the ballot in a case heard before the US supreme court this week.

Leonard Leo’s advocacy and financial network played a major role in Trump’s judicial nominations and confirmation hearings as part of his years-long push to make the courts more friendly to conservatives and their causes. Justice Clarence Thomas once joked that Leo was the “No 3 most powerful person in the world”.

US ethics groups hail Senate subpoenas for Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow

Read more](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/nov/30/supreme-court-ethics-scandal-leonard-leo-harlan-crow)

Leo is the co-chairman of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization that counts five of the current nine justices as current or former members. He also heads a well-funded financial network that works to advance rightwing causes, having received a massive $1.6bn donation to boost his work. His maneuvers have been part of the recent scandals at the supreme court, including a payment he directed to be paid to Thomas’s wife, Ginni, the Washington Post reported in 2023.

Through this extensive network, he is tied to several of the filers of amicus briefs in the 14th amendment case that could prevent Trump from running for re-election. In those briefs, a variety of conservative groups argue against Trump’s removal, aligning with Trump’s arguments that he should remain on the ballot.

The consequential case has brought in amicus briefs on both sides from outside groups, historians, law professors and elected officials, who’ve parsed through legal language and the implications of removing a presidential candidate from the running.

According to research by Accountable.US, a non-profit that focuses on calling attention to special interests in US politics, Leo has ties – including professional associations, funding through his own groups or those he’s exchanged money with, and allies in the Federalist Society – to a handful of groups that filed amicus briefs against Trump’s removal.

The ties are part of a pattern, documented by Politico, of Leo himself and his network being connected to amicus briefs in high-profile supreme court cases in recent years. The Politico review also found “multiple instances of language used in the amicus briefs appearing in the court’s opinions”.

In this instance, Accountable.US found ties between Leo and the following groups or their lawyers that filed amicus briefs in the 14th amendment case: Citizens United, the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the Claremont Institute, Landmark Legal Foundation, Judicial Watch, Jones Day, Wyoming’s secretary of state Chuck Gray and America’s Future.

Democrats plan to subpoena Leonard Leo over perks to supreme court justices

Read more](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/oct/31/leonard-leo-subpoena-harlan-crow-supreme-court)

Citizens United, a conservative group whose name is synonymous with the 2010 supreme court ruling that allows unlimited political spending by outside groups and corporations, filed a brief alongside Steven Calabresi, Leo’s fellow co-chair of the Federalist Society. Other lawyers tied to the society are signed on to the group’s brief as well.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation’s brief is co-filed with a man who has been featured in more than 100 Federalist Society events, and the group has received funding from groups tied to Leo. The Claremont Institute has also received funds from groups tied to Leo’s funding network, and the brief’s author wrote a book that includes a quote from Leo on the back cover and featured in society events.

Leo has complimented the chairman of the Landmark Legal Foundation as a “great patriot” and ”. The Judicial Watch president is also president of the Council for National Policy, which Leo has reportedly been involved with. Jones Day, a conservative law firm whose attorneys authored an amicus brief for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has given money to the Federalist Society, and the firm is where Leo, Trump and others met to come up with a list of supreme court candidates.

The lawyers who filed Wyoming secretary of state Gray’s brief include a Federalist Society contributor who’s received a fellowship from the group. America’s Future has gotten funding from a group that’s exchanged millions with Leo’s financial network.

“It’s no surprise that Leonard Leo is backing efforts to support Trump at the supreme court,” said Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone. “Leo helped Trump draw up his supreme court nominee shortlist – many of whom are justices on the bench set to hear this critical case – and now, Leo’s deploying his rightwing network in support of Trump as he faces consequences for his violent insurrection. It couldn’t be clearer where Leo stands.”

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an 4 23 no lnx

Missouri Republican defends letting adults marry 12-year-old kids

Brad Reed and Raw Story April 12, 2023

Missouri State Sen. Mike Moon (R) this week defended the rights of parents to marry off children as young as 12 years old.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Moon made the remarks during a contentious debate over banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors in which Democratic State Rep. Peter Meredith accused him of hypocrisy for supporting the bill despite positioning himself as a champion of parents' rights.

"I've heard you talk about parents' rights to raise their kids how they want," argued Meredith. "In fact, I just double-checked, you voted no on making it illegal for kids to be married to adults at the age of 12 if their parents consented to it!"

Meredith went on to accuse Moon of making it legal for a 12-year-old to be "raped by an adult" as long as their parents agreed to let it occur, which prompted an angry response from Moon.

"Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12?" he asked Meredith. "I do. And guess what? They're still married."

As the News-Leader notes, "Moon's support of child marriage in some instances has been long documented," as in the past he has discussed "a couple he met in college who had married one another at age 12."

Watch the video below or at this link.

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Nearly 50 million people are enslaved around the world: report ›

Tennessee GOP drafts 'completely ridiculous' bill to eliminate age requirements for marriage ›

West Virginia Republicans vote to keep child marriage legal ›

Wyoming, a judge put oil leases on hold over a failure to consider the climate risks of greenhouse gases. More challenges are planned in the Arctic.

San Francisco Chronicle

Wyoming libertarian group sues to campaign near poll centers

That year, Republican gubernatorial candidate Foster Friess was asked to leave a polling center the day of his primary election after he was ...

1 week ago

7/20

ASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming's leading libertarian think tank is suing the state for the right to campaign within a restricted speech buffer zone around polling centers.

The Wyoming Liberty Group will sue state Secretary of State Ed Buchananand several Laramie County officials, the Casper Star-Tribune reported Tuesday.

The state currently prohibits campaigning of any kind within 100 yards of a polling place and within 100 feet of absentee polling locations. The law is intended to prevent voter intimidation. Similar restrictions are in place in every state in the country.

The lawsuit stems from a complaint filed by conservative activist John C. Frank, who is suing so he can stand on the sidewalk outside his local polling site on election day in order to boost conservative causes.

Attorneys for the libertarian advocacy group argue that the size of the buffer zones unfairly restricts free speech.

A secretary of state spokesman, Will Dinneen, declined comment.

The law was enforced in Wyoming as recently as 2018. That year, Republican gubernatorial candidate Foster Friess was asked to leave a polling center the day of his primary election after he was spotted campaigning near the entrance.

BS blog

May 24 2014

Common Core’s Global Warming Agenda

Vicki E. Alger

http://www.iwf.org/blog/2794034/Common-Core%E2%80%99s-Global-Warming-Agenda

viki alger

Earlier this month, Wyoming became the first state to reject Common Core “Next Generation” Science Standards because they push man-made global warming as a settled fact. Also a growing number of scientists have been issuing scathing rebuttals against reputedly “scientific” findings on global warming, including the White House’s National Climate Assessment. Moreover, a majority of scientists believe that global warming is largely nature-made, not man-made (see here, here, here, and here).

TheHeartland Institute’s James Rust, a retired professor of nuclear engineering, takes the standards to task, suggesting Wyoming and other states are right to question adoption of politicized standards:

The coverage mentions computer modelsare used for predicting future climate and weather conditions for the planet. The report claimed, “However, it is clear not only that human activities play a major role in climate change but also that impacts of climate change—for example, increased frequency of severe storms due to ocean warming—have begun to influence human activities . The prospect of future impacts of climate change due to further increases in atmospheric carbon is prompting consideration of how to avoid or restrict such increases.” There is insufficient coverage that computer models fail to replicate what happens in the future when data for comparisons are available. In my opinion climate models should not be included in K-12 education because our understanding of forces influencing climate is incomplete and model’s failure to be validated. Material in the book does not make this clear. …

Our science programs should stimulate students to be adept in analysis and have an inquiring mind. Never be exposed to ideas of “the science is settled”. It is my opinion the science portion of Common Core is dangerous for the country. Damage from its implementation for a few decades could harm the country for many years.

Abandoning basic elements of scientific inquiry in favor of politicized agendas is bad enough. But Rust goes on to note that worst of all:

It is easy for teachers to be caught up in promoting teachings of the catastrophic climate change movement because of “warm feelings” from working to save the planet. Over-zealous teachers, perhaps in concert with environmental groups, may wish to develop slogans, songs, T-shirts, and even arm bands for students to use to help spread the gospel of human-caused global warming. … Potentials for mischief to the country over teachings of perverted science are enormous. …

The entire Common Core program provides opportunities to instill propaganda in our young people ages 5 to 18. Common Core should be discarded from an intellectual point of view.

And that’s saying something, considering that Common Core national standards are intended to make American students college- and career-ready.

omg 818

But several other candidates have raised $1 million or more; state observers say this could end up being Wyoming’s most expensive election ever.And Friess doesn’t seem to have pulled away from the field based on the polling we’ve seen. 33/25%

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/25/profit_over_grizzlies_trump_admin_tries

Trump administration has announced plans to gut the Endangered Species Act, ordering federal agencies to consider economic impacts before listing animals to be protected under the law. The newly proposed guidelines by the Interior Department would allow corporations involved in mining, drilling or other forms of extraction to proceed with projects that would otherwise be prohibited. The Trump administration’s proposed rules are among several recent attacks endangering the Endangered Species Act. Earlier this month, the Congressional Western Caucus introduced a package of nine bills to “modernize” the ESA. In introducing the legislation, Republican Congressmember Don Young of Alaska said, “The Endangered Species Act has been weaponized and misused by environmental groups for too long.” We speak to Kierán Suckling, executive director and a founder of the Center for Biological Diversity.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Trump administration has announced plans to gut the Endangered Species Act, ordering federal agencies to consider economic impacts before listing animals to be protected under the law. The newly proposed guidelines by the Interior Department would allow corporations involved in mining, drilling or other forms of extraction to proceed with projects that would otherwise be prohibited.

Republican President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 to provide a framework to conserve and protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats. The Trump administration’s proposed rules are among several recent efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

Earlier this month, the Congressional Western Caucus introduced a package of nine bills to, quote, “modernize” the ESA. In introducing the legislation, Republican Congressman Don Young of Alaska said, quote, “The Endangered Species Act has been weaponized and misused by environmental groups for too long.” Meanwhile, in the Senate, Wyoming Republican John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, also introduced a draft bill to amend the act. This is Barrasso speaking at a hearing last week.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Congress last reauthorized the Endangered Species Act with amendments of substance in 1988, 30 years ago. Even the U.S. Constitution has been amended more recently than the Endangered Species Act. Stakeholders are making it clear that the Endangered Species Act can be improved. A major goal of the Endangered Species Act is the recovery of species to the point that protection under the statute is no longer necessary. Since the ESA was signed into law, only 54 out of 2,393 species listed in the U.S. and foreign countries have been delisted because they have recovered. That’s less than 3 percent. Now, as a doctor, if I admit a hundred patients to the hospital and only three recover enough under my treatment to be discharged, Governor, I would deserve to lose my medical license with numbers like that.

AMY GOODMAN: House Democrats, along with conservationists, managed to get excluded from Congress’s annual defense spending bill policies that would restrict Endangered Species Act protections for certain animals.

For more, we’re joined by Kierán Suckling. He is executive director, a founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, the group that has sued the Trump administration 81 times over the past year and a half.

Kierán, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about what is happening to the Endangered Species Act, 45 years after it was passed and President Nixon signed off on it.

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Yeah, the Trump administration’s proposal to gut the Endangered Species Act is the most comprehensive, devastating attempt to destroy this law we’ve seen in this entire time. And this is after Reagan and after the Bushes. It’s even worse than that. It’s quite extraordinary.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, and specifically, how would the weakening or gutting of the act work, if it went through?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Well, it will strip protection entirely for about 60 percent of all species on the list. And these are the species that are listed as threatened rather than endangered. Currently, they get essentially the same protection as endangered species. Under the Trump proposal, they would get no protection at all. You could continue to kill them, you could continue to destroy their habitat, as if they were simply not protected.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how would this issue of taking into account economic impacts work?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Yeah, this is really disastrous. The Endangered Species Act is incredibly successful because it requires that all decisions be made solely on the best available science—no politics, no economic concerns. The Trump administration now wants to say, when deciding whether a species is endangered—a scientific question—you’re going to have to take into account economic impacts. Well, economic activity—mining, logging, grazing—is the cause of endangerment. And this is the Endangered Species Act, not the Endangered Mining Industry Act. So it really turns the priority of this very successful law entirely upside down.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Richard Nixon, speaking in 1970, when he outlined a sweeping plan to protect the environment. Three years later, he signed the Endangered Species Act.

PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON: The great question of the ’70s is: Shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land and to our water?

AMY GOODMAN: So that’s Richard Nixon speaking back in the 1970s. I want to go back to Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, speaking at a hearing for a draft bill to amend the Endangered Species Act.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: The discussion draft elevates the role of states in partnering with the federal government to implement the Endangered Species Act. It affords states the opportunity to lead wildlife conservation efforts, including to the establishment of recovery teams for listed species and developing and implementing recovery plans. It provides for increased regulatory certainty, so stakeholders are incentivized to enter into voluntary conservation and recovery activities. It increases transparency. It codifies a system for prioritizing species listing petitions so limited resources flow to the species most in need.

AMY GOODMAN: Kierán Suckling, if you can respond to what Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming was saying?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Yeah, this is really extraordinary, because to get onto the endangered species list, there first has to be a finding that state plans have not worked, that state plans have caused the species to be imperiled. And so, now Barrasso he wants to have the law say, “Oh, well, let’s put the states, whose plans failed, in charge of conserving the species.” How can that make any sense at all?

He wants to do that because he knows the states don’t have the money, the infrastructure, and in places like Idaho, Utah, Alaska, they don’t have the desire to protect these species. It’s the reason they’re endangered in the first place, right? We don’t turn over implementation of our laws to criminals who have just been found guilty of breaking the law. The state can be a partner of the federal government. The federal government needs to set the standards, provide the funds to get the job done that the states fail to do.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Kierán Suckling, why do you—what’s your sense of why the Trump administration is making this such a priority? I mean, President Trump is not exactly known as a guy who has a lot of concern about what’s going on with nature or with the open spaces of America. He’s a real estate developer. So, why do you think he has moved so aggressively on this front?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Well, he’s being strongly influenced by right-wing Republican congressmen, but especially those from the Western states, where so much logging, mining, grazing, oil drilling, coal mining is taking place on public lands. And there’s this right-wing agenda to allow our public lands to be turned over to industry groups. And these folks, particularly out of Utah, have Trump’s ear, and he’s doing essentially whatever they want to happen.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about, Kierán, what animals have been saved by the Endangered Species Act?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Oh, you know, there just are hundreds. Of the 1,600 species on the domestic list, about 85 percent of them have improved in their population size since going on the list. So, for example, the bald eagle, when it was first put on the endangered species list, there were just a couple hundred of them. And by the time they were recovered, there were over 8,000. Other species that have been helped are the wolverine up in the northern states; the grizzly bear has recovered tremendously, from on the verge of extinction to many hundreds of them; on the East Coast, we’ve got the Atlantic sturgeon off the coast of New York; or down in Florida, we’ve got the manatee, another incredible success story; green sea turtles on the Texas coast. Really, in every single state in the country, endangered species are thriving because of the work of the federal government, because of the very protections the Trump administration and Barrasso want to kill.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And we talked about what President Trump is directly trying to do. What is Barrasso—in Congress, what are these efforts to amend or modernize the act about?

KIERÁN SUCKLING: Yeah, so, congressional Republicans have introduced over 60 bills in the last two years to gut the Endangered Species Act. And they know what they’re doing. So these bills go right at the key decision junctures in the act that protect species and, in doing so, slow down some industries. And so, they want to make it harder to put a species onto the endangered species list at all, because if you stop that key moment, none of the other things flow from it. They want to allow protected habitat areas to be destroyed, even though they were set up simply to save the species. They want to change the people who create recovery plans for the species, the blueprint of what actions are needed, so that the states and industry groups dominate those plans. They want to make it so that greenhouse gas emissions and global warming cannot be addressed at all, even though they’re driving almost all the species on the list extinct. They want to create loopholes so that oil companies, mining companies, logging companies can continue to implement destructive plans, even though those plans have been specifically found to be driving species extinct.

https://www.ecowatch.com/grizzly-bear-hunt-wyoming-2571671329.html

Unfortunately, it's much more than that. Though those who oppose renewables may not be nationally successful, they are finding wins at the state level. Case in point: The coal-heavy Wyoming, where state legislators are considering a massive tax increase on wind power as a major new project is being developed.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sej-wyoming-wind-tax-snap-story.html

... In the four years since Wyoming began taxing power generated by wind turbines, it has collected a little less than $15 million in revenue.

No, that is not much money in a resource state rocked by the simultaneous decline in the prices of coal, oil and natural gas, a state trying to close a budget gap that could reach $500 million.

But now, as one of the world’s largest wind farms is about to begin construction here on a project aimed at providing clean electricity to nearly a million homes in California and the Southwest — potentially transforming this fossil fuel state into a major player in renewables — some powerful state lawmakers are looking to raise those taxes.

And some in the wind industry, which has long benefited from incentives and subsidies, say they are worried. The company that has spent nine years trying to build the wind project says higher taxes could further delay or even halt the plan.

“Just about every legislator we’ve met with asks us, ‘You tell us how much we can tax you before we put you out of business,’” said Bill Miller, chief executive of the Power Co. of Wyoming, which is planning the wind farm. “I just shake my head and say, ‘Zero.’”

He said the state was at risk of “taxing this project out of existence.”

Miller and others note that other states are offering incentives, and that new technology is helping states with even less wind glean more electricity from it. Wyoming, they say, is in no position to impose new taxes that could make it less competitive.

(for CA?)

5/16

Wyoming lawmakers call for higher taxes on wind industry

Washington Times‎ - 2 days ago

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A group of lawmakers is seeking to increase taxes on wind farms to put more money into education, which is mostly ...

Wyoming lawmakers seek higher taxes on wind

Wyoming Tribune‎ - :{2 days ago

DOUGLAS – A group of lawmakers, accusing wind farms of “seeking to shut down” the coal industry, drummed up proposals Wednesday to increase taxes on the renewable energy source to raise money for education.

There are 21 wind farms across Wyoming that on a blustery day can produce 1,412 megawatts of power, and a handful of additional projects in the works. But much of the discussion during the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Interim Committee meeting at the Wyoming State Fairgrounds was on how the industry has allegedly contributed to the decline of coal.

In Wyoming, money that pays for school construction and major maintenance comes from an account that is mostly funded through payments made by coal companies when they lease federal land for mining. Coal prices have been down for years, and the account is drying up. Lawmakers discussed scenarios by which wind revenues could flow into the account.

“That’s why it’s a logical tax,” said Rep. Mike Madden, R-Buffalo, a chairman of the Revenue committee. “It’s too bad we don’t have more turbines now.”

The committee ultimately ordered its nonpartisan staff to draft two bills that would increase taxes on wind. One would increase the tax per megawatt hour of wind produced in Wyoming. The current tax is a dollar per megawatt hour. The actual amount of the change would be decided by the committee later.

The second bill that will be drafted would require wind companies to fork over a portion of the production tax credit they receive from the federal government – perhaps as much as $12 per megawatt hour. But the exact amount would also be decided later.

Wind energy industry representatives told the committee in person and in written communications that increased taxes might prevent development of the industry in Wyoming. That didn’t seem to deter lawmakers.

“If it kills a project, it kills a project,” said Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower.

Jim Willox, a Converse County commissioner, said his county receives necessary revenue from the industry. He disagreed with a study by the Legislature’s nonpartisan staff that compared taxes on coal and natural gas to wind and found wind pays much less. Coal and natural gas must pay severance taxes, because they’re removing a non-renewable product from the ground that future generations will not be able to access. Wind is renewable, he said.

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, disagreed, arguing that wind turbines destroyed viewsheds for up to 200 years, a much longer time than mines and drilling rigs.

“With wind, that viewshed is lost forever,” he said. “It is severed.”

Jody Levin, a lobbyist who represents Rocky Mountain Power, said company officials would be happy to discuss the issue with lawmakers at the next Revenue meeting. “Wyoming already has the highest wind tax in the nation,” she said.

About 40 people attended the discussion. Many of them were fossil fuel lobbyists.

:{--

Legislators Draft Bills To Raise Tax On Wind Energy

Wyoming Public Media‎ - 2 days ago

More news for wyoming wind tax

Wyoming wind tax collections fall by 15 percent | Energy Journal | trib ...

trib.com/.../wyoming-wind-tax.../article_f91b98a9-30a9-5087-8f...

Casper Star‑Tribune

Mar 28, 2016 - Wyoming wind revenues fell by 15 percent in 2015, an unwelcome drop at a time when the the state is already suffering the effects of a ...

First year of Wyoming wind tax blows in $2.6 million | Wyoming News ...

trib.com/...wyoming-wind-tax.../article_ab416dcc-3b59-5325-b6...

Casper Star‑Tribune

Mar 14, 2013 - Wyoming's one-of-a-kind wind power production tax generated only a drop in the bucket's worth of revenue for the state and counties in 2012.

Wyoming winds up with $4.4M from wind production taxes - The ...

www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27580044/wyoming-winds-up-4-4m

The Denver Post

Feb 23, 2015 - RAWLINS, Wyo. — More than $4.4 million was generated from taxes on wind production across Wyoming in the last fiscal year, according to ...

When the federal government introduced stronger standards for fracking on public lands earlier this month, the oil and gas industry was quick to file lawsuits. On Thursday, the state of Wyoming joined the fray.

Claiming that the new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) set of rules released last week “unlawfully interferes” with the state’s existing fracking regulations, Wyoming filed a suit Thursday against the U.S. Department of the Interior, Sec. Sally Jewell, and BLM, requesting judicial review of the rules.

In the lawsuit, Wyoming claims that BLM cannot put these restrictions on fracking because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has “exclusive authority” to regulate any underground injections under the Safe Water Drinking Act of 1974.

However, under the so-called “Halliburton Loophole,” added to the SWDA in 2003, fracking activities are specifically excluded from the definition of underground injections, unless diesel fuel is being used — which is fairly uncommon.

“It appears the state just has it wrong legally,” Mike Freeman, an attorney with Earth Justice told ThinkProgress. “Wyoming’s petition actually cites the definition of underground injection that excludes fracking.”

The new BLM rules require oil and gas companies to disclose all the chemicals used while fracking on protected lands. During the fracking process, a liquid, usually water, is mixed with chemicals and injected into shale, releasing pockets of natural gas or oil. The water generally cannot be recycled and is toxic after use. Under the new rules, companies will be prohibited from storing fracking wastewater in open pits on national public land and required to periodically test the integrity of every well to help prevent pollution.

Two oil and gas industry groups,Independent Petroleum Association for America and the Western Energy Alliance,have also filed a lawsuit against BLM on similar overreach grounds, saying that the “final rule as issued is contrary to law.” North Dakota is alsoreportedly considering a lawsuit. Both Wyoming and North Dakota have experienced an oil and gas boom in recent years.

BLM manages more than 17.5 million acres of public lands in Wyoming, and also has the mineral rights to another 40.7 million acres in the state. In 2013, the most recent year data has been released, 620 new oil and gas wells were started in the state. According to that data, more than 7 million acres of public land in Wyoming are currently under lease by oil and gas developers.

The BLM’s new rules apply only to oil and gas extraction on federally managed land. As of 2013, the United States managed 247 million acres of public land and had another 700 million acres of mineral rights. Some in Congress want that to change, though. A nonbinding amendment introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) would support state efforts to sell public lands, including national forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, historic sites, and national monuments. The amendment, which would require further legislation in order to become law, passed the Senate on Thursday. The amendment echoes similar proposals made by House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz (R-TX).

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It seems that Wyoming, Cheney's home state, has been a breeding ground for fossil fuel enthusiasts. And those enthusiasts found employment working for and with the Bush Administration:

The Wyoming connection was especially evident from 2000 to 2008, during the two administrations of President George W. Bush and his vice president, Wyoming native Dick Cheney. A former chief executive of Halliburton, Cheney took an early and very active interest in energy policy and placed several Wyoming political friends in key positions in the Department of Interior.

Among those friends and the key positions they occupied:

-- David J. Gribbin III, a high school and college friend from Wyoming, was Cheney's transitional liaison with Congress. Gribbin previously worked for Cheney as Halliburton’s chief lobbyist in the capital.

-- Thomas Sansonetti, a prominent Cheyenne lawyer, GOP activist, and member of the conservative Federalist Society, who headed the team choosing top personnel for the Department of Interior, which oversees Minerals Management Service.

-- Gayle Norton, who, though not from Wyoming, was picked by Sansonetti to head Interior. Native Coloradan Norton was a longtime protégée of James Watt in the Mountain States Legal Foundation, of which Watt was the founding director. Norton was also a member of the Federalist Society.

-- Rebecca W. Watson, a former Sheridan, Wyoming, lawyer, who Norton named as assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Watson was responsible for the Bureau of Land Management, the Office of Surface Mining and the Minerals Management Service.

-- Rejane "Johnnie" Burton of Casper had managed the Wyoming Department of Revenue under former Gov. Jim Geringer. In 2007, Burton resigned under fire from her $168,000-a-year Minerals Managementdirector’s job after the Department of Interior Inspector General found widespread corruption in the agency’s Colorado-based royalty collection office. In addition, questions were raised in Congress about Burton’s handling of offshore leases. Burton now works as a $49,000-a-year aide for longtime friend and former legislative colleague Wyoming U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

-- Randall Luthi, of Freedom, is a former speaker of the Wyoming House and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson. He succeeded Burton as MMS director. Luthi left hisMinerals Management position when President Obama took office in January 2009. A little over a year later, Luthi was named president of the National Ocean Industries Association, the main industry trade group for the offshore oil and gas industry. (Luthi testified May 27 before the House Natural Resources committee investigating the Gulf of Mexico disaster. (Complete hearing transcript - PDF.) Several of the companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster are members of Luthi’s association. One of the National Ocean Industries’ stated missions: reduce federal regulatory controls. More about Luthi here (be sure to click through the links; the Daily Beast article is a doozy!)

-- Former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, as chairman of the House Resources Energy and Minerals subcommittee, was Congress’ most strident champion of the now-abandoned "Royalty-in-Kind" program that had allowed energy producers to pay Mineral Management Services royalties with gas or oil instead of cash. Where was the protest by the deficit hawks?

-- Current U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis pushed a proposal through the state Board of Land Commissioners to commit Wyoming’s 50 percent share of federal natural gas royalties to the Minerals Management Royalty-in-Kind program While serving as state treasurer in 2005. In 2008, Royalty in Kind accounted for more than half of the $543 million in federal gas royalties dispersed to the state. Deficit hawks, are you reading this?

Got the picture? The Department of Interior in general, and the MMS in particular, were oozing with Cheney devotees. This ensured that the primary regulatory body for the fossil fuel industry would be "industry friendly." But that's just part of the story.

Wyoming has become the first state to reject new national science education standards, a decision based in part on some Wyoming lawmakers’ concerns that the standards teach climate change as a scientifically-accepted phenomenon.

[but allow FF curric, see below]

Wyoming’s rejection of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) came in the form of a footnote to the state’s budget, which stipulated that “neither the state board of education nor the department shall expend any amount appropriated under this section for any review or adoption of the next generation science standards.”

The footnote was co-authored by Wyoming Rep. Matt Teeters (R), who clarified that it was the standards’ inclusion of climate change in curriculums that worried him most.

“[The standards] handle global warming as settled science,” he told the Casper Star Tribune. “There’s all kind of social implications involved in that that I don’t think would be good for Wyoming.”

State Board of Education Chariman Ron Micheli agreed.

“I don’t accept, personally, that [climate change] is a fact,” Micheli said. “[The standards are] very prejudiced in my opinion against fossil-fuel development.”

The standards were developed by 26 states and multiple science and education organizations and provide guidelines for science education that include the teaching of climate science and evolution. These topics are sometimes only taught in specialized classes like Earth Science that aren’t required of all students — the NGSS recommends they beincorporated into general curricula, with climate change education starting in middle school. Proponents of the standards are pushing back against Wyoming’s budget footnote, which became law when Gov. Matt Mead — who has proudly referred to himself as a climate skeptic — signed the budget into law earlier this month. Climate Parents, a group that’s fought for the adoption of the standards in several states, is planning a campaign in Wyoming urging Gov. Mead to adopt science standards that are as thorough as the NGSS and that include climate change in the curriculum.

“Rep. Teeter is clearly willing to prevent Wyoming students from getting a 21st century science education because he’s concerned that kids learning climate science would be harmful to the fossil fuel industry,” Lisa Hoyos, director and co-founder of Climate Parents told ThinkProgress in an email. “It’s clear that his priorities are out of sync with ensuring kids get a strong foundation in science, including the climate science they’ll need to navigate their future.”

The standards, which represent the first major overhaul of science education in the U.S. in more than a decade, have been adopted in 10 states so far, as well as D.C. The standards ran into some opposition in Kentucky, where a review committee in September voted down the state’s plan to incorporate them into its curriculum. But Gov. Steve Beshear intervened, saying he would implement the standards, which were approved by the state last June, “under his own authority.” Texas has also voiced its disapproval of the standards — in 2012, Texas Board of Education Chair Barbara Cargill said there was a “zero percent chance” Texas would approve the guidelines.

Tags:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/17/3412131/wyoming-rejects-ngss/

For The First Time Ever, No One Bids On Wyoming Coal Lease

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — For the first time, nobody has bid on a federal coal tract offered for sale in Wyoming after the company that initially sought to mine the location determined that it couldn't do so profitably.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management held a coal lease sale in Cheyenne on Wednesday but received no bids.

Usually a federal coal tract offered for sale by the BLM receives exactly one bid — the one submitted by the company that applied to mine the coal. There are two competing bids very rarely.

This time, not even Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy followed up its 7-year-old lease application for the 149 million tons of coal next to its Cordero Rojo mine. Economic analysis that accounted for market conditions and political and regulatory uncertainty showed that not all of the coal was economically recoverable, Cloud Peak President and CEO Colin Marshall said in a release.

"We were unable to construct an economic bid for this tract at this time," Marshall said.

While the coal industry and its allies warn that new greenhouse gas regulations for the power plants that burn Wyoming coal threaten the coal industry and by extension the state's economy, environmentalists jumped on the decision as a victory for their side.

"Even coal companies seem to be acknowledging that more coal leasing is a losing endeavor," Jeremy Nichols with WildEarth Guardians said.

Cordero Rojo is the third-biggest U.S. coal mine after two others in the Powder River Basin. The basin has a dozen surface mines that produce around 40 percent of the nation's coal and make Wyoming the top coal state.

Cloud Peak first applied in 2006 to mine the coal through the federal lease. The application launched a lengthy analysis by the BLM of the environmental effects of mining the coal and an in-depth assessment by the agency of the coal's value.

The BLM uses the secret figure to decide whether to accept or reject a high bid.

"They are bidding against the house and the house has a secret bid. So it is up to the company to put in their very, very best effort not knowing what our number is," BLM spokeswoman Beverly Gorny said.

The Cloud Peak release didn't offer details of its financial assessment of the coal tract and a company spokeswoman didn't return a message.

Spot coal prices have recovered somewhat from recent lows, said Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Marion Loomis, but companies need to make long-term plans based on long-term contracts.

They need to be able to recoup their investment in expanding mines.

"It just shows the softness of the market right now. They don't want to make investments until they make sure there is a market available for that coal," Loomis said.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY-AL): The most frustrating aspect of the cap-and-trade proposals being discussed in Washington, however, is the fact that all of the economic sacrifices outlined above will be made for the sake of negligible to no actual environmental benefit. . . . There is no disputing that our planet experiences climate change – it has been cycling between cooling and warming periods long before we were here to experience the effects. I believe the jury is still out on whether mankind can alter global climate trends. [source]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY): This is a smoking gun, saying that the EPA findings were political and not scientific. [source]

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY): How willing are you to pay the personal cost of global warming legislation – even if it probably won’t make a difference? [source]

This week President Obama announced he's going to attempt to combat climate change from the Oval Office. Wyoming's three Republicans in Congress are none too happy with his plan. As Matt Laslo reports, they say it could cripple the state's economy and hit your pocket.

MATT LASLO: Climate change wasn't really a part of the 20-12 election, so the president surprised many when he promised to deal with global warming in his second inaugural address. Now he's coming out swinging again...charging Republicans with being deaf to the scientific community.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Ninety-seven-percent of scientists including by the way some who originally disputed the data have now put that to rest. They have acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it.”

LASLO: Wyoming's lawmakers didn't like that jab. I was next to Amy Harder – who covers climate change for National Journal – as she took the president’s assertion to Wyoming Senator John Barrasso.

AMY HARDER: “Do you think there needs to be debate about the science of climate change?

JOHN BARRASSO: “The president wants to ignore the economic impacts…”HARDER: “But do you disagree with his science?”

BARASSO: “We all want to make energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, and do it in ways that don’t raise cost for American families…”

HARDER: “Right, but on the science of climate change to you disagree with what he’s saying?”

BARASSO: “Well, he kind of talked about the ‘Flat Earth Society.’ You know we have a very flat economy and its because of the president's unwillingness to help us create jobs in this country.”

LASLO: Flat earth or not, Barrasso never answered what side of the climate debate he's on. But Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis thinks it’s more helpful to flip the president's proposition on its head.

CYNTHIA LUMMIS: “The science tells us that if China and Russia do nothing that no matter how much energy we cease to consume that we cannot affect global warming.”

LASLO: And Wyoming senior Senator Mike Enzi has his own way of viewing the science.

MIKE ENZI: “I’ve always said that there’s five billion dollars a year being spent to prove climate change and there is five billion dollars a year being spent to disprove climate change. We ought to take the $10 billion and actually make a difference.”

LASLO: The president says because Congress won't address global warming, he's going to. And he says the Clean Air Act gives him unilateral authority to curb emissions.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “In the health and safety of all Americans, I’m directing the Environmental Protection Agency to put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants and complete new pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.”

LASLO: Wyoming lawmakers - and other Republicans across the U-S - are up in arms over what they say is another Executive Branch overreach. Wyoming lawmakers, of course, are worried because the president's move promises to pinch producers across the state. The White House hasn't released the exact details of its plan, but the broad outline is something that is sending shivers down the spines of oil and coal executives: the government putting heavy regulations on power plants. Enzi says that’s going to squeeze this shaky economy even further.

ENZI: “Everybody ought to be worried about utility prices. The companies don’t pay the tax, the consumer does. So their electricity is going to be more expensive, their gasoline is going to be more expensive, their clothes are going to be more expensive. Anything that’s manufactured uses energy and the price of energy is going to go up dramatically.”

LASLO: Enzi says the state isn’t sitting pretty in this new scenario.

ENZI: “A lot of revenue comes from the coal, the oil, natural gas, coal bed methane, and those are – coals being picked on primarily – but each of those others will be on their own turn. And that’s where a lot of Wyoming’s revenue comes from.”

LASLO: But Lummis says it goes deeper than that. She says picking emerging renewable energy sources over traditional fossil fuels will smack the very people the president claims he wants to help.

LUMMIS: “To hold down poor people by forcing on them the fuel of choice for the American elite is the ultimate in arrogance.”

LASLO: For now it’s a waiting game as the Obama Administration crafts the details of its new policy to combat global warming. In the meantime Wyoming’s energy producers and lawmakers are angry, bracing and trying to figure out what the new world of U-S energy policy will look like.

For Wyoming Public Radio, I’m Matt Laslo.

TAGS:

roadless;

Brimmer was back in the national spotlight again in 2003 when he issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the U.S. Forest Service from implementing the roadless rule. The rule, enacted the last weeks of the Clinton Administration in 2001, had sought to ban road construction and logging in nearly 60 million acres of federal land, mainly in the West.

In his second opinion on the roadless rule in 2008, Brimmer accused the Forest Service of "flagrantly and cavalierly railroad(ing) this country's present environmental laws in an attempt to build an outgoing President's enduring fame."

Brimmer said this week that he's always been, "pro-western."

"I know that in my career, I have decided cases for the West," Brimmer said. "And that's because I've always felt that this area needed help in representation, that just two senators and a congressman only, couldn't do it all. And so I've pitched in too."

http://grist.org/news/wyoming-and-energy-companies-can-keep-fracking-chemicals-secret-court-rules/

Wyoming considers adding fossil fuels to school curriculum — with the industry’s help

By Philip Bump

The state of Wyoming likes the fossil fuel industry. A lot. So much so that it wants to make sure its kids know everything there is to know about energy development. And, so:

State officials and representatives of the energy industry will be asked to develop a course of study focusing on the energy industry and natural resources to be taught in Wyoming schools under a bill approved Thursday by the Legislature’s Joint Education Committee.

The bill, which will now be considered in the Legislature’s general session beginning Jan. 8, is intended to give students more appreciation and knowledge of Wyoming’s resources and opportunities, according to Nick Agopian of Devon Energy, who led an initiative with other energy officials to develop the bill.

This seems kind of unnecessary. About 5 percent of the population of the state of Wyoming works in an extractive industry: mining, oil and gas extraction, logging, etc. After a dip following the recession, that figure is growing steadily, thanks largely to fracking.

Doesn’t it seem likely that with one in 20 Wyomingites working in an extractive field, kids have some understanding of the sector?

Here’s some language from the proposed legislation:

The governor’s policy office shall oversee the development of a statewide initiative on energy and natural resource development and use to provide materials and opportunities for use in public education programs. The initiative shall be a joint effort of representatives from energy and natural resource industries and related member organizations, state education agencies, public education stakeholder representatives and the governor’s policy office and shall focus on the development of a curriculum for use in public school education programs which … [e]nsures a balanced approach to energy and natural resource development and use and ensures subject matter expertise is integrated with the requirements of the statewide educational program prescribed by law

Emphasis added, because that phrase refers to the American Petroleum Institute, et al. Developing curriculum for school kids. Can you imagine?

Or, better: Can you imagine the Fox News Outrage Swarm™ that would result if a state tried to implement a curriculum touting green energy? Literally: imagine it. Imagine what would happen if a state considered a public school curriculum that “ensured a balanced approach” to the use of clean energy, written in part by a solar industry group. Try and come up with the headline that would appear on the Drudge Report, featuring one or all of these words: Indoctrination, Scandal, Taxpayers, Socialism, Nobama.

Luckily, the population of Wyoming is significantly less than the population within a mile radius of where I’m sitting right now. And there’s no guarantee that the state legislature will approve the bill.

If they don’t, Wyoming schoolkids will just have to learn about fossil fuel extraction the traditional way: by drinking fracking chemicals or when their parents’ place of employment explodes.

October 26, 2012

Art That Irked Energy Executives Is Gone, but Wyoming Dispute Whirls On

By DAN FROSCH

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The idea behind the sculpture that appeared on the University of Wyoming campus about 16 months ago was simple but provocative: a swirl of dead wood and lumps of coal, intended to show the link between global warming and the pine beetle infestation that has ravaged forests across the Rockies.

But in a place like Wyoming, where the oil, gas and mining industries are the soul of the economy, some view such symbolism as a declaration of war.

And ever since the British artist Chris Drury installed the 36-foot-diameter sculpture, called “Carbon Sink,” the university has been embroiled in a bitter controversy, which eventually led to the quiet removal of the artwork last spring after energy officials and their political allies complained to administrators.

The dispute over the sculpture — part of a series of campus installations commissioned by the university’s art museum — has continued to dog the university after it released e-mails discussing the artwork.

The e-mails, first obtained by Wyoming Public Radio, showed that the university’s president, Tom Buchanan, privately asked that the sculpture be dismantled a year ahead of schedule because of the uproar surrounding it.

Clarence Addison Brimmer, Jr. (born July 11, 1922) is a United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.

Born in Rawlins, Wyoming, Brimmer received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1944 and was a U.S. Air Force Sergeant from 1945 to 1946. He received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1947. He was in private practice in Rawlins, Wyoming from 1947 to 1971. He was the state attorney general of Wyoming from 1971 to 1974. He was in private practice in Rawlins, Wyoming in 1974. He was the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming in 1975.

On July 23, 1975, Brimmer was nominated by President Gerald Ford to a seat on the Wyoming District Court vacated by Ewing Thomas Kerr. Brimmer was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 1975, and received his commission on September 16, 1975. He served as chief judge from 1986 to 1992, and assumed senior status on September 27, 2006.

Clarence's son Philip A. Brimmer also became a federal judge.^[1]

Sources

Clarence Addison Brimmer, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
Judges of the United States

References

^ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10646439

heartland:

The State of Wyoming and the Colorado Mining Association have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the federal government’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule, also known as the Roadless Rule.

Power Reserved for Congress

The petitioners argue the U.S. Forest Service exceeded its authority in enacting the Roadless Rule by exercising power reserved solely for Congress.

In announcing the petition, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) said he hoped the Court would reinstate a decision by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer striking down the Roadless Rule. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reversed Brimmer’s decision.

Bans Even Beneficial Uses

The Roadless Rule, enacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the waning days of the Clinton administration, bans road building or maintenance on more than 58 million acres of public land, mostly in the West. The ban affects more than 3 million acres in Wyoming, essentially rendering the land protected wilderness.

According to the Colorado Mining Association (CMA), the rule not only impedes mineral development but also forecloses other uses such as timber harvests and forest health protection measures. The CMA petition notes roadless restrictions also create increased risk of environmentally destructive insect infestations and forest fires.

Peabody gets wyo blm coal cheap http://grist.org/news/our-coal-such-a-steal-peabody-energys-sham-auction-goes-down/

huffpo green

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead says he's given up hope that the Wyoming Legislature this year will roll back state tax increases on wind energy production and construction of wind energy projects.

Wyoming began imposing a $1 per megawatt hour tax on wind energy production in January. This month, the state also began imposing sales and use taxes that generally exceed 5 percent on equipment used on wind energy projects.

Mead has expressed concern that the higher taxes might make wind energy companies look outside Wyoming. Nonetheless, the Legislature's Joint Revenue Interim Committee last fall rejected the governor's proposal to continue the tax exemption for wind energy projects while imposing a lower 2 percent impact fee on wind projects to support county governments.

"The Revenue Committee didn't see fit to move forward on that, and I'm disappointed on that," Mead said this week in an interview with The Associated Press.

Several energy companies have warned that the higher taxes could hurt Wyoming's ability to recruit new wind projects. Companies with existing wind farms in the state have also say it's unfair for the state to impose the wind generation tax after they've invested in plant construction.

Mead said this winter that he was hopeful the Legislature would roll back the tax increases in the session that starts next month. However, he now says there's been no movement on the issue.

"We're not going to get that done this session, but I'm committed to continuing to work with the Legislature to hopefully get something done next session that provides what I think is a good opportunities for money for counties and money for the state of Wyoming," Mead said.

Mead said he believes the discussion on wind turbines has been too narrow, focusing on them only as generating wind power. He said large wind projects can also require supplemental natural gas generators that could increase the market for Wyoming gas in the state.

"So as we look at the abundance of natural gas we have, the incredible amounts that are being stored now, that seems like a way for us not just to ship out our natural gas but actually using it in Wyoming," Mead said.

Harnessing Wyoming's abundant wind resources together with natural gas would allow the state to market more energy to California, which demands clean energy.

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, is a member of the Revenue Committee and opposed Mead's call to roll back the tax increases last fall.

coal

Introduction

Wyoming is the nation's largest coal producer, with over 400 million tons of coal produced in the state each year. In 2006, Wyoming's coal production accounted for almost 40% of the nation's total coal production.^[1] Currently Wyoming coal comes from four of the state's ten major coal fields. The Powder River Basin Coal Field has the largest production in the world - in 2007, it produced over 436 million short tons.^[2]

Wyoming coal is shipped to 35 other states. The coal is highly desirable because of its low sulfur levels.^[3] On average, Wyoming coal contains 0.35 percent sulfur by weight, compared with 1.59 percent for Kentucky coal and 3 to 5 percent for other eastern coals such as West Virginia. Although Wyoming coal may have less sulfur, it also has a lower "heat rate" or fewer Btu's of energy. On average Wyoming coal has 8600 Btu's of energy per pound, while eastern United States coal has heat rates of over 12,000 Btu's per pound, meaning that plants have to burn 50 percent more Wyoming coal to equal the power output from Eastern coal.[

Coal-fired power plants produce almost 95% of the electricity generated in Wyoming. The state's average retail price of electricity is 5.27 cents per kilowatt hour, the 2nd lowest rate in the nation^[5]

In 2003, Wyoming produced 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions,^[6] ranking it 31st in the nation overall, but 1st on a per capita basis.^[7] Wyoming's coal-fired power plants emit more CO₂ in eight hours than the power plants in more populous Vermont do in one year.^[6]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wyoming_and_coal

considers aircraft carier for aramgeddon http://boingboing.net/2012/02/28/wyoming-state-reps-propose-bil.html

Matthew Hansen "Matt" Mead (born March 11, 1962) is the 32nd and current Governor of Wyoming.

Contents [hide]

[edit] Early life

Mead was born in Teton County, Wyoming, the son of Peter Bradford Mead and Mary Elisabeth (née Hansen; 1935-1996), the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 1990, and the grandson of the late Governor and U.S. Senator Clifford Hansen. Mary Mead, considered an expert horsewoman, was killed in a horseback accident while working cattle in Grand Teton National Park. Mead grew up in Wyoming. He has an older brother, Bradford Scott "Brad" Mead, a Jackson attorney, and an older sister, Muffy Mead-Ferro of Salt Lake City, Utah, the author of Confessions of a Slacker Mom.^[1]

[edit] US Attorney and Senate Election

Mead is a former United States Attorney based in the capital city of Cheyenne. He served under appointment of U.S. President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2007. In 2007, Mead resigned as U.S. Attorney to seek the seat vacated by the death of fellow Republican Craig L. Thomas. His resignation was required under the Hatch Act of 1939. He lost in the Republican State Central Committee by fourteen votes on the third ballot from being one of the three candidates from which Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal could make his selection. Freudenthal chose state Senator John Barrasso of Casper.

[edit] Governor

Mead visiting Guantanamo Bay

In the election held on November 2, 2010, Mead handily defeated Leslie Petersen, the former chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

Mead won the Republican gubernatorial primary with 30,272 votes, having defeated State Auditor Rita Meyer, who polled 29,558 votes. The Fort Bridger rancher, Ron Micheli, finished in a strong third position with 27,592 votes. State House Speaker Colin M. Simpson trailed in fourth place with 16,673 votes.^[2]

[edit] Personal

Mead is married to the former Carol L. Mintzer (born ca. 1965), and the couple has two children.

[edit] References

^ Mead-Ferro, Muffy (2004). Confessions of a Slacker Mom. Da Capo Lifelong. pp. 152. ISBN 978-0738209944.
^ ""It's Mead by a Hair"". Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Retrieved August 18, 2010.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matt Mead

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead official state site
Matt Mead for Governor official campaign site
Biography at the National Governors Association
Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
Appearances on C-SPAN programs
Profile at Notable Names Database

Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 01:52 AM PDT

Dick Cheney rears his head over the Gulf disaster

by 1BQ Follow

You probably know that Halliburton, the contractor BP hired to cement the well, is under investigation for its role in this disaster.

You may also know that Dick Cheney has ended his seclusion in a secure, though disclosed, location.

But do you know just how much of this disaster could be attributed, both directly and indirectly, to Dick Cheney? Viewed as a whole, his actions while in office make him look at least as culpable in the Gulf oil disaster as Tony Hayward. Please bear with me - this will take a while to explain...

The failure of the MMS to regulate the oil and gas industries is now legendary (to the extent that it was regulated at all). It could be argued that the American Petroleum Institute regulated the MMS, apparently, and despite its inquiries, with Congress' permission. How this came about was a long-term strategy.

It seems that Wyoming, Cheney's home state, has been a breeding ground for fossil fuel enthusiasts. And those enthusiasts found employment working for and with the Bush Administration:

The Wyoming connectionwas especially evident from 2000 to 2008, during the two administrations of President George W. Bush and his vice president, Wyoming native Dick Cheney. A former chief executive of Halliburton, Cheney took an early and very active interest in energy policy and placed several Wyoming political friends in key positions in the Department of Interior.

Among those friends and the key positions they occupied:

-- David J. Gribbin III, a high school and college friend from Wyoming, was Cheney's transitional liaison with Congress. Gribbin previously worked for Cheney as Halliburton’s chief lobbyist in the capital.

-- Thomas Sansonetti, a prominent Cheyenne lawyer, GOP activist, and member of the conservative Federalist Society, who headed the team choosing top personnel for the Department of Interior, which oversees Minerals Management Service.

-- Gayle Norton, who, though not from Wyoming, was picked by Sansonetti to head Interior. Native Coloradan Norton was a longtime protégée of James Watt in the Mountain States Legal Foundation, of which Watt was the founding director. Norton was also a member of the Federalist Society.

-- Rebecca W. Watson, a former Sheridan, Wyoming, lawyer, who Norton named as assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Watson was responsible for the Bureau of Land Management, the Office of Surface Mining and the Minerals Management Service.

-- Rejane "Johnnie" Burton of Casper had managed the Wyoming Department of Revenue under former Gov. Jim Geringer. In 2007, Burton resigned under fire from her $168,000-a-year Minerals Management director’s job after the Department of Interior Inspector General found widespread corruption in the agency’s Colorado-based royalty collection office. In addition, questions were raised in Congress about Burton’s handling of offshore leases. Burton now works as a $49,000-a-year aide for longtime friend and former legislative colleague Wyoming U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

-- Randall Luthi, of Freedom, is a former speaker of the Wyoming House and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson. He succeeded Burton as MMS director. Luthi left hisMinerals Management position when President Obama took office in January 2009. A little over a year later, Luthi was named president of the National Ocean Industries Association, the main industry trade group for the offshore oil and gas industry. (Luthi testified May 27 before the House Natural Resources committee investigating the Gulf of Mexico disaster. (Complete hearing transcript - PDF.) Several of the companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster are members of Luthi’s association. One of the National Ocean Industries’ stated missions: reduce federal regulatory controls. More about Luthi here (be sure to click through the links; the Daily Beast article is a doozy!)

-- Former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, as chairman of the House Resources Energy and Minerals subcommittee, was Congress’ most strident champion of the now-abandoned "Royalty-in-Kind" program that had allowed energy producers to pay Mineral Management Services royalties with gas or oil instead of cash. Where was the protest by the deficit hawks?

-- Current U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis pushed a proposal through the state Board of Land Commissioners to commit Wyoming’s 50 percent share of federal natural gas royalties to the Minerals Management Royalty-in-Kind program While serving as state treasurer in 2005. In 2008, Royalty in Kind accounted for more than half of the $543 million in federal gas royalties dispersed to the state. Deficit hawks, are you reading this?

Another part of the story is the "National Energy Policy Development Group," aka the Cheney Energy Task Force. Offered without comment from Sourcewatch:

The National Energy Policy Development Group was a group, created by Executive Order on January 29, 2001, that was chaired by Vice President Richard Cheney. The group, commonly referred to as the "Cheney Energy Task Force," produced a National Energy Policy report in May 2001. In a cover note to George W. Bush, Cheney wrote that "we have developed a national energy policy designed to help bring together business, government, local communities and citizens to promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future." The composition of the task force, according to the report, was confined to government officials.

However, according to media reports at the time, energy industry executives participated in the Task Force. In particular, those identified as having been involved included then-Enron President and Chairman Kenneth Lay and lobbyists Haley Barbour and Marc Racicot.

The National Resources Defense Council filed a FOIA request for the records of the meetings. As they state:

In early 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney presided over a task force charged with setting a new national energy policy. For months high-ranking Bush administration officials met in secret with lobbyists and executives from utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries. In May 2001 the task force released its recommendations: more subsidies to polluting industries, more reliance on oil, more nuclear power. Despite NRDC's repeated requests for information, the Bush administration refused to disclose the names of industry participants in the task force or what they discussed with Bush policymakers.

In April 2001 NRDC filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for access to the task force's records; the Bush administration refused to comply. NRDC filed suit, and a federal judge ordered the administration to turn over the documents. On March 25, 2002, nearly a year after first requesting them, NRDC received roughly 10,000 pages relating to the task force from the Department of Energy. Subsequently the department provided another 3,500 pages, but withheld more than 16,000 others.

You can peruse the documents here. As they clarify further:

Even though the government heavily censored the documents before supplying them to NRDC, they reveal that Bush administration officials sought extensive advice from utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries, and incorporated their recommendations, often word for word, into the energy plan.

The Guardian reported on a piece by the WSJ:

The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills.

The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig last week...

... regulators in two major oil-producing countries, Norway and Brazil, in effect require them. Norway has had acoustic triggers on almost every offshore rig since 1993.

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

The U.K., where BP is headquartered, doesn't require the use of acoustic triggers.

The Journal's report doesn't come out and say this, but the environmental lawyer, Mike Papantonio, said on the Schultz show in an interview you can watch here that it was Cheney's energy task force - the secretive one that he wouldn't say much about publicly - that decided that the switches, which cost $500,000, were too much a burden on the industry. The Papantonio segment starts at around 5:00 in and lasts three minutes or so.

So Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force, that was supposed to "promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future," consulted with wolves on how best to guard the sheep

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate "to my knowledge," and the chief of BP America Inc. said he did not know.

Chevron was not named in the White House document, but the Government Accountability Office has found that Chevron was one of several companies that "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the task force. In addition, Cheney had a separate meeting with John Browne, BP's chief executive, according to a person familiar with the task force's work; that meeting is not noted in the document.

Separately, the conservative Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request of their own and found that

on the grounds that the administration was not "in compliance with the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA), which mandates that certain documents, task force members, meetings, and decision-making activities be open to the public." Judicial Watch argued that the acting as energy lobbyists -- "regularly attended and fully participated" in the group's meetings held behind closed doors, and were in fact members of the group. The Sierra Club also filed suit. (The two actions were later merged.) "At issue is whether Cheney allowed private energy lobbyists and big-name campaign contributors to participate in the work of the group, and if so, whether that information should be made public," UPI reported.

They also found:

that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts." The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: www.JudicialWatch.org.

The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) documents likewise feature a map of each country’s oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the projects, costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date.

You can view the documents here.

When you tie the whole thing together, you end up with a compelling case for the following points, none of which is original and all of which are familiar to you, but taken as whole, detail an abuse of executive power that has resulted in preventable disasters:

-- Cheney appointed cronies to positions within the Bush Administration where they could be the most helpful to the fossil fuel industry, rubber-stamping the industry's every wish;

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force recommended rules and guidelines that allowed the fossil fuel industry to be self-"regulating;"

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force may have specifically recommended against a safety device that might have averted the loss of 11 lives;

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there

Does anyone besides me think Dick Cheney ought to rear his orange-jumpsuit-clad head over a prison yard for the rest of his life? If so, can you contact an elected official to suggest that an investigation into Cheney's role in the abomination in the Gulf that he helped create (in addition to pulling us into a war of aggression) is at least as worthy of investigation as Tony Hayward?

Please remember to rec the BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership!

Post-coffee update: Thanks to those who've clicked through many of the links. In the semi-cold light of morning, I feel even more strongly that no matter how culpable Tony Hayward is, Dick Cheney played a pivotal role in enabling the cost-cutting measures that cost 11 lives on Deepwater Horizon, not to mention the thousands of lives lost or shattered in two wars of aggression.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/18/877102/-Dick-Cheney-rears-his-head-over-the-Gulf-disaster