Economists on Rockies Energy Boom: How's It

*The answer, according to a new study by Headwaters Economics, is it depends on the state, but its lead writer concludes: "If we can't make it work in Wyoming, that's a bad sign for everywhere else."*

By Brodie Farquhar, 4-27-11

    Cover photo for a new study by Headwaters Economics analyzing the impact jobs tied to fossil fuel has had on the Western economy.
    Cover photo for a new study by Headwaters Economics analyzing the impact jobs tied to fossil fuel has had on the Western economy.

Back in the 1980s, when fossil fuel development fell off a cliff in Western states, there was a popular sticker pasted on the bumpers of aging pickups, rolling on tires of diminishing tread: "Dear Lord, please give me another boom, and I promise I won't p*** this one away."