美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Push For 'Energy Dominance' Boosts Drilling On Public Land（在线收听）

Trump Push For 'Energy Dominance' Boosts Drilling On Public Land

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

In parts of the West, the Trump administration is opening up millions of acres of public land to oil and gas leases. That's fueling a drilling boom in places like Wyoming. Cooper McKim of Wyoming Public Radio and NPR's energy and environment team reports.

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COOPER MCKIM, BYLINE: An 18-wheeler spins its tires through snowy mud on an undeveloped well pad in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. In the bitter morning cold, workers in black overalls and face masks move gravel where oil tanks will soon stand.

PETER WOLD: So we're sitting, getting ready to drill a well on this five-acre pad here.

MCKIM: That's Peter Wold, CEO of Wold Energy Partners. He's been investing heavily in the Powder River Basin. Applications to begin drilling have increased over 400 percent in the past five years.

WOLD: Our phone has been ringing off the hook as far as people that want a joint venture with us.

MCKIM: Wold says this wide, open land is now filling up with trucks kicking up dirt on new roads.

WOLD: But now there's an extreme amount of interest and activity. I would call it a preboom. Absolutely.

MCKIM: Analysts say a perfect storm is making the country's largest coal state favorable for oil and gas. Carl Larry's with the financial consulting firm Refinitiv in Houston and advises oil and gas companies. He says one major factor has been the improvement of fracking technology. Wells can extract a lot more oil and gas than they used to from the same land.

CARL LARRY: It's made it economical. But it's made it more efficient. And I think that's where we start seeing the results in profitability.

MCKIM: Another big factor is the vast expanse of cheap land here - some as little as $2 an acre. Larry says, in Texas, land is expensive. And there's a lot more competition. In Wyoming...

LARRY: We're looking at places that are not so crowded - untouched fields. And that's, I think, what people are most interested in.

MCKIM: The Trump administration has made more of that land available. Federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management - or BLM - have streamlined the leasing process while multiplying the amount of acreage available.

LARRY: I think that makes a big difference here. And you're making it easy. It's not like there's a lot of red tape or a lot of, you know, documents and paperwork to sign.

MCKIM: But all this has been met with fierce resistance from environmental groups.

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MCKIM: Connie Wilbert is with Wyoming's Sierra Club. She says the new leasing could undermine years of work protecting sage grouse, mule deer and pronghorn antelope - all of which rely on Wyoming's untouched lands for migration, breeding and grazing. She pulls out a large map...

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MCKIM: ...And shows there are new leases right in the state's mule deer migration corridor - the longest in the world.

CONNIE WILBERT: If these leases are all developed or even a substantial portion of them are developed, it will devastate all of those wildlife values.

MCKIM: Other environmental groups have launched legal challenges. Wilbert worries the Trump administration is putting energy first before all else.

WILBERT: I think it's really important to remember that these are public lands. They belong to the people of the United States - not just in Wyoming but throughout the whole country.

MCKIM: The Trump administration says it is taking environmental concerns into account. All these oil and gas leases are a boon to the state. So far this year, they brought in more than $47 million. And more will come once they start producing.

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MCKIM: Back on his well pad, Peter Wold thinks industry can thrive here without hurting wildlife. He points to a nearby meadow where a herd of pronghorn antelope mix with cattle. There are wind turbines in the background.

WOLD: We love this area. And the last thing in the world that we want to do is mess it up.

MCKIM: Wold expects to start extracting oil and gas in February - the same month the BLM plans to auction off over 700,000 more acres of public land here. For NPR News, I'm Cooper McKim in Casper, Wyo.