Trump Allows Oil, Gas, and Coal Companies to Cheat Americans out of Royalties – At Least Pending Litigation (Gold, Uranium and Other Hardrock Miner’s Don’t Pay Royalties for their Thefts from Public Lands)

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1872 mining law, American Indians, coal, corruption, exploitation, extraction industries, fossil fuels, mineral rights, mining law, oil and gas, Public Lands, resource extraction, robbery, robbing the American people, Royalties, Trump Administration, Trump Robber Barons, US Banana Republic, US Third World country

News release from the Sierra Club:
“TRUMP ENDS RULE BLOCKING CORPORATE POLLUTERS FROM PAYING THEMSELVES
Interior Rule Prevented Fossil Fuel Companies From Selling Resources to Themselves
Friday, February 24, 2017
Contact: 
Jonathon Berman, (202) 297-7533, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC — Today, Donald Trump rescinded a Office of Natural Resource Revenue rule that prevented companies from selling fossil fuels extracted on public lands to a subsidiary at a low price, paying royalties on that initial sale, and then reselling the fuel at a far higher price without paying royalties on the second sale.

In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection program Director Athan Manuel released the following statement:
“It’s no surprise that someone with Donald Trump’s checkered business history would rescind a rule preventing fossil fuel companies from ripping off the American people. Donald Trump should represent the people, and as such, should conduct business that puts their interests first — not rig the system for corporate polluters.”Reproduced from a Sierra Club website with permission of the Sierra Club; ©[2017] Sierra Club. All Rights Reserved. http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/02/trump-promises-environmental-protection-through-regulation-while-eliminating (Emphasis our own).

See more news here: http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases

Apparently it is this: “Postponement of Effectiveness of the Consolidated Federal Oil & Gas and Federal & [American] Indian Coal Valuation Reform 2017 Valuation Rule” https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-02-27/pdf/2017-03861.pdf Not only will this temporarily or permanently cheat America out of royalties from public lands, presumably including subsurface (mineral rights) ownership, which is much of the US west, and offshore, but more responsible companies have converted to the new accounting system and will be inconvenienced by this: https://www.onrr.gov/about/PDFDocs/20170222.pdf

Mining companies do not even pay royalties – unlike the oil, gas and coal industry. If this was Latin America, people would be scandalized:
“The Mining Law promotes development by allowing mining interests to —
take valuable hardrock minerals including gold, silver, and uranium from public lands without royalty payment to the taxpayer — unlike other mining industries that extract coal, oil or natural gas; buy valuable mineral bearing public lands for no more than $5 per acre — 1872 prices.” – See more at: https://www.earthworksaction.org/issues/detail/general_mining_law_of_1872