Opportunities/Challenges Abound

Energy Money A Concern To UW & Legislature

By Brodie Farquhar, 1-10-07

The nexus of energy money, higher education and the state's coffers dominate Wyoming news today.

Conservationists have cautioned University of Wyoming leaders about the potential strings that energy companies might attach to donations or research grants for the new School of Energy Resources, just as donations hit the $12 million mark, supplementing a $40 million fund authorized last year by the legislature.

UW leaders face the challenge of balancing the interests of the energy companies with the public (and sometimes conflicting) interests of jobs, the environment and a sustainable future.

Current plans call for additional research to focus on coal-bed methane, new clean-coal technologies, renewable energy and possibly a research center to study design for windmill turbine blades. Protection of habitat, wildlife is also critical, say conservationists.

And as the Wyoming legislative session gets rolling, property rights activists are pushing for reforms in eminent domain, to even the playing field between energy companies and property owners who increasingly feel like they're getting run over by the energy boom juggernaut.

Meanwhile, Wyoming legislature leaders are pushing a note of fiscal caution, emphasizing that the national price of natural gas has fallen of late, and is volatile enough to make future fiscal planning much more challenging.

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