2020: A budget crisis, energy transitions and a virus that changed everything
WyoFile’s 2020 review looks back at 12 months of tumult and adaptation.
Occidental
What the public needs to know before Wyo buys 1 million acres
Opinion
by 4 Comments Transparency, public input, independent analysis, legislative oversight are all necessary argues natural resources law expert.
Rumors, exuberance, jousting mark advance of land deal bills
As measures empowering Gov. Mark Gordon to negotiate what might be $1B acquisition progress divisions emerge among politicos jostling for control over the purchasing process and even the eventual management of lands
Gordon promises caution, pitches land deal as an investment
Deal involves a numbers-minded governor of a state with huge trust funds, an oil giant under pressure and 5 million acres of land and minerals.
State could spend hundreds of millions on Occidental land
Massive land, minerals purchase could dip deep into the state’s savings funds; proponents say it would bring much-needed revenues, but belt-tightening first.
