Taxpayers for Common Sense

Because of antiquated federal methane and coal royalty rules that undervalue these resources on public lands, taxpayers lose between $1 and $2 billion a year in revenue. Worse, the federal government allows companies to flare and vent methane into the atmosphere without charging them for the value of the gas or taking into account the impact to human health or safety. Taxpayers for Common Sense will use this grant to educate policy makers on the need to update and reform the federal royalty system, employing its analytic skills as well as educating the public and media on the need for change.

Enough methane is released into the atmosphere annually from fossil energy drilling operations on public land to power the gas needs of Los Angeles for a year. The American taxpayer loses an estimated $50-60 million in royalties payments on the vented gas. Taxpayers for Common Sense would use this grant to: A) educate the administration and other opinion leaders about methane emissions and lost revenues on public lands, B) set the stage for fair-market-value return to taxpayers through federal royalty reform, and C) create more transparent and accountable resource development on federal lands.

Taxpayers for Common Sense seeks to insure that fiscal reform includes reform of the generous subsidies provided to the fossil industry and other polluting sectors of the economy. The organization collaborates with taxpayer groups from all sides of the ideological spectrum, including the conservative CATO Institute and various state chapters of the Tea Party movement.