Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · United States · 2025

US budget law cuts fossil fuel royalties and sets 4 million coal acres for leasing

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act lowered federal royalty shares for onshore oil and gas and for coal, and opens 4 million acres of coal land to leasing, according to the sources cited. The cited analysis says oil, gas and coal producers gain while the public's revenue share falls.

What?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act lowered federal royalty rates for onshore oil and gas and for coal, and opened 4 million acres of coal land to leasing.
Where?
United States: onshore federal land, coal lands and Gulf lease sales
When?
The Global CCS Institute dates the act 4 July 2025; the royalty and leasing terms are reported from the cited sources. Global CCS Institute
Who?
Gained
  • Oil, gas and coal producers — Lower royalty rates and wider leasing, per the cited analysis
Lost
  • US public, through its federal revenue share — Smaller federal royalty share, per the cited analysis
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Through the royalty and leasing provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

According to the sources cited (NPR, June 2025, and Outdoor Alliance, August 2026), the law lowered the federal royalty share for onshore oil and gas to 12.5 percent and for coal to 7 percent.

The same sources say 4 million acres of coal land will be opened to leasing, and that at least two Gulf lease sales a year will be held until 2039.

A US Interior Department source dated 22 July 2025 gives at least 19.15 million dollars from fossil-fuel-linked donors to the inauguration fund; 43 of 111 reviewed appointees had fossil-fuel ties.

Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Occidental were named among the donors. The sources reviewed document an overlap between those donors and the sector that gains from the law, but not a causal link.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The Interior Department source is cited by date only; no link is given in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not show whether the donations influenced the law.
    • Unclear Whether the new coal and Gulf leasing has led to lease sales or production is not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The Outdoor Alliance analysis (August 2026) is cited without a link in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Communities and civil society

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Law and courts

    Arbitration
    A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
    Plea
    In a criminal case, the defendant's formal answer to a charge. A plea agreement settles a case with a guilty plea on agreed terms.
    Punitive damages
    Money a court orders a defendant to pay to punish especially reckless conduct, on top of compensation for losses. Mainly used in US courts.
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