The Fed. Govt. CHOOSING to DECREASE Revenue on Public Lands, Despite "Financial Cliff"

The Department of Interior raises revenues from the sale, rent and royalties of energy and minerals on government lands. The Institute for Energy Research "...compared those revenues for fiscal years 2005 to 2012 to understand the trend and to determine what opportunities may exist for obtaining additional revenues during this time when the nation is faced with the 'fiscal cliff' and taxpayers are being threatened with higher taxes.

The government data show that revenues obtained in fiscal year 2008 were more than double those received in fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and 2.5 times those received in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The main reason for the drop in those revenues is that fewer federal lands and waters were being offered than in fiscal year 2008 and those that were offered were less attractive than the fiscal 2008 offerings. The opportunity cost here is large. The U.S. government could have obtained almost an additional $54 billion over the four year period between fiscal years 2009 and 2012 if it continued the precedent it had established in fiscal year 2008."