Best Practices

Energy development is a high-impact activity that presents opportunities and challenges for state and local governments, and there are clear lessons for how to reconcile job and revenue benefits with the impacts of rapid industrialization and population growth.

Mark Haggerty

Blog

Getting Real About Rural Resilience

April 2019 — Rural and isolated communities face wrenching economic and demographic transitions. A solution to uncertainty is to focus on resilience.

Mark Haggerty

Blog

Coal Transition in Montrose County, Colorado

February 2019 — New fiscal and policy assessments help local leaders understand their exposure to declining revenue and policy barriers during a coal transition.

Report

Time to Create a Natural Resources Trust

March 2017 — Unlike most countries and state governments, the U.S. has not created a natural resources trust which could help meet volatility and spending challenges facing local and county governments.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Unconventional Oil and Gas Revenues to Local Governments

March 2015 — This report includes seven major energy-producing states and a new interactive adds four more (AR, LA, and PA). The study and interactive compare how local governments receive production tax revenue from unconventional oil and natural gas.

Mark Haggerty

Blog

Time for a U.S. Natural Resources Trust?

November 2014 — Compared to other nations and even U.S. states, the federal government is a conspicuous laggard in creating a natural resources trust which would allow for stable, permanent, and ever rising payments to states and local governments without risks to taxpayers.

Mark Haggerty

Blog

Falling Oil Prices: Good for the U.S. Economy, Bad for Shale Communities?

November 2014 — Lower oil prices could be great for the economy, but for the communities dependent on drilling, the price drop may prove challenging for several reasons.

Report

How Is Fracking Shaping Your Community and Economy?

November 2014 — Monitoring can help local governments better understand the socioeconomic impacts caused by energy development, and support requests to industry and state government for assistance to implement appropriate mitigation.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

North Dakota Not Returning Adequate Oil Revenue to Local Governments

February 2014 — This report compares how North Dakota provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional oil extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Wyoming Oil Taxes: Highest Rate, Large Savings Compared to Other States

February 2014 — This report compares how Wyoming provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Local Governmments in New Mexico Receive Lowest Share of Oil Revenue

February 2014 — This report compares how New Mexico provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Colorado Lags Other States in Taxing Oil, Incentives Increase Volatility

February 2014 — This report compares how Colorado provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Montana Oil Tax Policy: No Long-Term Savings, Exposure to Volatility

February 2014 — This report compares how Montana provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Oklahoma on Oil: Big Tax Breaks and Low Returns to Local Governments

February 2014 — This report compares how Oklahoma provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report / Series: State Energy Policies

Texas Oil Policy: Low Taxes, No Permanent Savings to Offset Volatility

February 2014 — This report compares how Texas provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

Report

Long-Term Energy Development Has Negative Impacts on Western Counties

December 2013 — This paper demonstrates that when fossil fuel development plays a prominent, long-term role in local western economies there are negative effects on per capita income, crime rates, and educational attainment.

Report

Fiscal Lessons for State and Local Governments

September 2013 — This report explores the challenges for states and local communities caused by unconventional oil and natural gas development, and fiscal best practices that address them.

Report

Unconventional Oil and North Dakota Communities: State Fiscal Policy Unprepared for Impacts of Energy Development

April 2012 — This report analyzes the growing infrastructure and services needs of the Bakken boom and meeting the demands of unconventional energy development.

Report

Fossil Fuel Extraction and Western Economies

April 2011 — This study analyzes the fossil fuel economy in five Rocky Mountain states—CO, MT, NM, UT, and WY—and how states and communities can maximize benefits and minimize the costs of energy development.

Report / Series: Energy and the West

Energy Revenue in the Intermountain West

November 2009 — This report examines the extent of energy reserves in the U.S. and on western public lands, and their scale in light of domestic production and consumption trends.

Report / Series: Energy and the West

Fossil Fuel Extraction as a County Economic Development Strategy: Are Energy-Focusing Counties Benefiting?

November 2009 — This report examines fossil fuel extraction as an economic development strategy for rural Western counties and whether it has benefited counties in the long run.