Against the Laws
Oil Price Off the Rails
The convergence of record high gas prices ($3.60 a gallon average across the U.S.), a presidential campaign, obscenely high earnings reports from Big Oil, and the prospect of $4 gas during the summer driving season has led to some rampant silliness, including the proposed “gas-tax holiday” being backed by candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Congress plans to get into the act, pledging to bring forth legislation to offer low-income Americans relief from high prices at the pump – legislation that President Bush will almost certainly veto.
The price surge is also leading to an alarming question: has the oil industry jumped the rails of basic economic laws?
According to economics, soaring prices would, in normal times, lead to increased output of oil, reduced demand and a subsequent reduction (or at least a flattening) in prices. But prices haven’t followed suit.
In other energy news: Colorado Wildlife Commission weighs in on oil and gas production; Xcel plans to shutter coal plants opposed by consumer-protection agency; and Colorado will study the economic effects of new oil and gas regulations on the industry.
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NewWest.Net Conferences
Designing the New West
The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation.
A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing.
Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference.
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Across State Lines as a regional whole
Turning On the Off-Season: A Yellowstone-Teton Economic Report
The 25 counties that comprise of the Yellowstone-Teton region of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana may be separated by state lines, but all share common amenities: high-quality natural areas, extensive amount of public lands, large wildlife populations and plentiful outdoor recreation.
But this also subjects the region’s economy to seasonal fluctuation — a shared challenge between both the rural and urban centers. How does this region, which shares similar environment and economic drives, understand and coordinate with each other in order to turn on the off-season?
The Yellowstone Business Partnership recently completed the first phase of a research project to characterize and analyze off-season assets and economic opportunities in the region. Therefore, local businesses and governments can grasp the regional growth trends and build an understanding across jurisdictional boundaries and vast geography. The recently completed report can be found here.
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Politics: Guest Opinion
Idaho Big Business Wins, Taxpayers Lose - Again
Idaho legislators say the state can't afford to phase out the sales tax on groceries but they are getting ready to pass a business tax cut that will ultimately cost $120 million a year in state revenue.
This means that more millions in taxes will be shifted to individual taxpayers.
This will be another step in a 30-year pattern of legislative policy: raising the taxes paid mostly by individual taxpayers and using the added tax revenue to give tax cuts to business.
The big winners with the $120 million tax cut will be the major corporations and utilities that run the industry lobby, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. IACI lobbied for the sales tax increase and is the primary sponsor of the bill to phase out the personal property tax.
Why is business property tax relief a higher priority than grocery tax relief?
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state politics: idaho
TechConnect Chastised for Dearth of Information in Idaho Commerce BudgetIdaho’s TechConnect business catalyst program received half a loaf from the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee today amid complaints from legislators that it was not providing enough information on what it did.
“I’m getting to the point where, if we can’t get detailed, reasonable information, I don’t know whether I’ll be able to support it,” said Senator Elliott Werk, D-Boise. “I think you have a lot of company on that one,” agreed co-chair Representative Maxine Bell, R-Jerome.
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FireSafe Montana Conference
Rural Growth, Climate and the Wildland-Urban Interface
The wildfire issue is a pressing one in the New West. Fire seasons are getting longer and drier by the year, fires are more severe, and, to top it off, the modern western migration is bringing an unprecedented influx of homes into the wildland-urban interface (WUI).
As wildland fire suppression operations increasingly consume dwindling Forest Service budgets and taxpayers grow ever wearier of footing the pricey bill of defending homes in the WUI, the onus for preparation and protection is increasingly falling on homeowners and local communities.
In 2006, interested parties from the public and private sector gathered in Helena at the Montana Communities and Wildfire Conference to begin a new discussion on the WUI and the West’s changing fire seasons. According to organizers, participants expressed overwhelming support for the formation of a non-governmental non-profit to perform public education, outreach and on-the-ground assistance in wildfire mitigation in the WUI. The result is FireSafe Montana, which held its first annual conference in Bozeman this week.
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State politics: Idaho
Bill Underway to Develop Idaho Broadband Network
An education bill passed out of committee on Monday is intended to provide high-speed Internet access throughout Idaho, including currently underserved areas, and eventually to provide such access to industry and to state government itself.
There has been some dispute over the past couple of years regarding how many people in Idaho lack high-speed Internet access. U.S. West (Qwest) has indicated that it believes that a majority of the people in Idaho who want such high-speed connections have access if they want it, but some people have disagreed, saying they want it but can’t get it – and that Qwest has stymied efforts by other companies to provide it.
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Western Biofuels Research
Camelina Biofuel Development Center Slated for Bozeman
Sustainable Oils, a new joint venture between Seattle-based Targeted Growth and Houston-based Green Earth Fuels, will be expanding in Bozeman soon. The research and development center will provide genetically refined seeds to Montana camelina producers and will also purchase camelina crops produced from those seeds through contractual agreements. The harvest will then be refined to produce biodiesel – 100 million gallons worth by 2010, according to the company.
The European Camelina sativa plant is particularly suited for Montana’s cool, arid climate. Recent support for biofuel production of camelina from Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester is creating a friendlier environment for camelina producers in Montana; first-time camelina growers in the 32 counties covered by Montana's Agro Energy Plan can now recoup some of their seed costs.
“I believe Montana is going to be the poster child for developing a crop like this because of the great support from Helena and the industry at large,” Sustainable Oils President Donald Panter posits.
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Just one day before his budget presentation
“Controversial” Idaho Commerce Director Goes on Leave
One day before he was due to give the budget presentation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for the Department of Commerce, Director Jim Ellick has gone on leave effective immediately for unspecified personal reasons, according to Governor Butch Otter's office and the Department.
Ellick had caused some controversy earlier this year by reportedly telling Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Representative Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, that he expected Micron's manufacturing facility to leave Idaho within two years.
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