1. This is the 3 page original press release by the Department of the Interior announcement I have on the post with President Obama: http://www.onrr.gov/about/pdfdocs/20131119a.pdf
   
2. This is a new government website being developed which gives revenue from extractive activity for the last 10 years. Either scroll through it or you can go to page 2. http://18f.github.io/doi-extractives-data/
   
3. US Department of the Interior’s “Office of Natural Resource Revenue” revenue reports. Also, within this web page and under the “Common Data Summaries” you should click on “non revenue volumes” which are tax breaks to polluters (you’re gonna love that one), and also click on Disbursements by fund” for an overview: http://statistics.onrr.gov/ReportTool.aspx

Additionally, under “Common Data Summaries,” put “All Reported Revenues” and an excellent 3 page report will be below. This one really broke my heart. The renewables generate not even 1 percent, although no one could give me a firm figure because the amount is so complicated by other factors. The best answer: virtually nothing which succinctly answers, for me at least, why we’re not invested more in this vital area. Case closed, sort of. Or at least explained.

If you look to the “revenue type’ referred to as “Bonus,” you’ll see about $3.33 billion in oil, gas and coal categories. I asked the Department of the Interior about what this was. They said that it came out of the “bidding process” for leases to acquire rights to extract on federal lands and offshore. If the bidder “won” the bid, they agreed to pay an up front bonus amount for the honor of getting to extract resources. Since the time between bidding and actual extraction (when the US government can start raking in their royalties) can take a while, this is an up front expense that bidders are willing to cough up. In what world does that not sound like a bribe?