Western Organization of Resource Councils Education Project
For Support Of The WORC Energy Education Program
-
Amount$500,000
-
Program
-
Date Awarded7/23/2013
-
Term24 Months
-
Type of SupportGeneral Support/Program
Strategies
Overview
The Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming produces almost half of the coal burned in the United States, accounting for 13 percent of the country’s carbon emissions. This grant would support the organization’s efforts to reduce the volume of coal mined in the Powder River by one-third over the next twelve years, thus reducing emissions in the United States by 4 percent. The Western Organization of Resource Councils will partner with its member organizations and a broad array of regional and national conservation groups to challenge coal leases in the Powder River Basin, ensure the price for coal leased there reflects market and external costs, and organize a wide range of voices, including ranchers, in efforts to reduce coal production.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.worc.org
Address
220 South 27th Street Suite B, Billings, MT, 59101-4106, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for general operating support
Formed in 1989, the WORC Education Project is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting the educational and charitable activities of the Western Organization of Resource Councils. This regional network of community-based organizations builds grassroots leadership through community organizing, to protect clean air, water, and public health; reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses; ensure full reclamation and a fair return to taxpayers; and protect the rights of local residents, who often have little control over development on their land or next door. (Substrategy: Advance Conservation Protections)
for support of the WORC Energy Education program
The resource councils are a network of rancher and citizen groups who will use the grant to minimize the impacts of oil and gas development on public lands. With Foundation support, the organization would take advantage of new Department of the Interior oil and gas leasing reforms to protect 600,000 acres of sensitive lands in Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana from leasing; increase the bonding and mitigation requirements for fossil-energy companies; and build a broader base of support among ranchers for public and private land protection. The councils plan to coordinate closely with the Western Energy Project, a Hewlett Foundation-supported West-wide fossil energy reform effort.
