News of Note
Wyoming’s Economy Riding High on Oil and Gas
By Courtney Lowery, 8-26-08
Wyoming’s oil and gas industry is responsible for one in five jobs in the state and about one-third of the state’s total economic output, according to a report detailed in today’s Casper Star-Tribune
Business editor Tom Mast rounds up the highlights of the report, most of which confirm that while the direct economics of the industry are predictable, the “downstream” effects are even more staggering than one might expect.
As one investigator says, “It shows vulnerabilities associated with oil and gas in that it’s such a large portion of Wyoming’s economy.”
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Comments
What's implied by the Alliance report is that the energy industry is so big, rich, influential, etc., that it would be wrong for Wyoming to do anything to inhibit or upset it.
Wyoming energy (including the coal mines) is such a powerful juggernaut right now, that if not restrained by the state legislature or the governor, there may be little or no hope to do so in the future.
Worst case scenario: the energy boys and girls harvest Wyoming and then leave, taking all but the money left behind in taxes, royalties and wages for workers. That's still a lot of money, but a pittance compared to what's leaving the state, never to be seen again. Ah, the joys of being a natural resource colony to the rest of the country!
Here we gooooooooooooooooo.....[gone!]