We should all be outraged at the news that came out recently that the Permanent Community Impact Fund, which comes from oil and gas revenue, is being used not to mitigate the impacts of fossil fuel development here in Utah, its legally defined purpose, but to give handouts to oil and gas companies so they can do even more damage to our land, water and climate.
The state audit now being discussed by the Legislature reveals that the Community Impact Board, which manages the funds, authorized, among other things, $30 million to be used for a study designed to advance the Uinta Basin Rail Line, an unnecessary and dangerous project meant to increase oil and gas production in the Uinta Basin.
Let's call this what it is: a corrupt corporate handout. It's as if the police department used public funds to buy bank robbers a faster getaway car. That $30 million — and the tens of millions more that went to other bogus projects — could have been used to remediate abandoned wells, repair leaking pipelines, or fund job retraining programs for the thousands of workers in the industry that are being left high and dry as more oil and gas companies go belly up.
The state Legislature should act immediately to implement the recommendations laid out in the auditor general's report. It should then go further and reconstitute the Community Impact Board with members who actually represent the community, not corporate interests. Utah deserves a board that is looking out for people, not polluters.
Jamie Henn, Salt Lake City
