A new study from the Wyoming Energy Authority suggests Joe Biden’s planned fracking restrictions would devastate the economies of eight western states including Colorado.
Both Biden and John Hickenlooper support ending energy leases on federal land, a ploy that could eventually result in a de facto fracking ban nationwide.
The new study conducted by University of Wyoming Professor Tim Considine found near term impacts of a leasing moratorium or drilling ban on federal lands would also be economically catastrophic.
Over the next four years, the human cost of fulfilling Biden’s campaign pledge would be an average of 72,818 fewer jobs annually. Lost wages would total $19.6 billion, economic activity would decline $43.8 billion, and tax revenues would drop $10.8 billion by the end of Biden’s first term in Alaska, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. By 2040, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would decline by $670.5 billion and average annual job losses would exceed 351,000 across the West.
“A Biden ban would be devastating to the economies of western states by eliminating thousands of jobs just as Americans are struggling to recover from the pandemic,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the energy trade association Western Energy Alliance.
“He’s calculating that he won’t pay a political price while satisfying radical climate activists, but he would be sacrificing the livelihoods of thousands of westerners throughout many sectors of the economy,” Sgamma continued.
“We hope this report convinces him not to inflict economic pain on westerners. If he makes good on a Biden ban, the Alliance will be in court within hours.”
Considine found a lease moratorium or drilling ban would kill over 15,000 jobs and lead to more than $16 billion in lost income in Colorado.
Other conclusions from the study found a ban on drilling would lead to a $27 billion reduction of industry investment and $3.4 billion in lost tax revenue by 2040, jeopardizing “financial support for education, health care, and other public services, especially for local governments and special districts.”
Unsurprisingly, the study concluded that rural Western Coloradans would bear the brunt of Biden and Hick’s anti-energy crusade.
Overall, either a moratorium on new federal leases or an outright drilling ban would reduce tax revenues, income, and employment in Colorado. […]
Moreover, given the location of federal oil and gas producing properties in Colorado, rural governments and special districts will likely bear most of the burden from the inevitable losses in tax revenues and employment.