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Impact Fees for Oil and Gas Development

 

Oil and gas development adjacent to communities can result in numerous unwanted negative externalities such as air and water pollution, road congestion, and the loss of property values and open space.  These externalities result in fiscal costs to communities, costs typically not covered by taxes or royalties or the companies profiting from oil and gas production.  Communities wanting to protect themselves from unfettered and rapid oil and gas development need economic tools.  In this report, we present the legal and economic methods available for communities to recoup fiscal costs and incentivize industry responsibility in the form of impact fees.

Air Pollution Costs from Oil and Gas Development

 

Impact fees represent an economic tool available to communities that can account for the market and non-market costs from oil and gas development.  A major non-market cost of oil and gas development is the societal health costs associated with air pollution.  In this report, we provide methods for estimating marginal damage costs associated with air pollution from oil and gas development and illustrate how impact fees can be estimated to include the monetized damages caused by air pollution to human health and other sources of human well-being.

Responsible Oil and Gas Development

 

Energy development has become the latest boom of the Wild West, with technological advances and volatile markets challenging timely community responses to unfettered development. This rapid expansion is threatening the sustainability of wildlife and ecosystem service production. With critical energy and conservation needs, transitioning to more efficient and cleaner energy is paramount. How can we ensure appropriate and sustainable energy development? CEI is working with communities on a platform for sensible energy development.

Sustainability of Oil and Gas Development

 

Dr. Pete Morton spoke about responsible oil and gas development at the University of Colorado’s Center for the American West on Tuesday, March 11th, 2014. He presented his evidence and suggestions at the Spring lecture series: FrackingSENSE 2.0:  What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Hope to Learn about Oil & Gas Development.

View Dr. Morton's 2014 Univ.    of Colorado Presentation

Fracking and the Resource Curse

 

The following materials highlight the long-term community costs of rapid energy development and illuminate paths forward for sustainable approaches:

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