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Colorado schools are seeing a huge financial boost thanks to fracking in a new round of grants derived from mineral extraction on federal lands in the state. As the Greeley Tribune reports:

“Fracking on federal lands will be a boon to Weld County school districts, as county officials announced Thursday they’ve sent about $2 million to 17 districts in keeping with a 2009 Colorado law that created an appropriation formula for the federal kickbacks.”

A press release from the Weld County Commissioners announcing the disbursements sheds further light on how these funds will also go to important infrastructure improvements as well as a respected workforce development training program that benefits veterans and others looking to improve their job skills. From the press release:

“All school districts within the county will receive their proportional share of the statutory mandated amount. In addition, the committee agreed to allocate funds to the county for roads and bridges, also required by statute, and to the Weld County Bright Futures Program. In the end, 50% of the allocation will go to Weld County roads and 50% will go to education programs within the county for the benefit of Weld County students”

According to the press release, Weld County collected more than $7 million dollars in grant money from the U.S. Forest Service generated from mineral extraction on the Pawnee National Grasslands. The grants further discredit “Keep-It-In-The-Ground” (KIITG) activists who have called Pawnee National Grasslands mineral leases “corporate giveaways” that are “privatizing our public lands at clearance sale rates” in their campaign to ban fracking on public lands. Of course, as the View Full Article