Big Oil Gets the Oil Wells, Taxpayers Get the Shaft

Taxpayers get stuck with the cleanup bills after big corporations drain federal land of oil and gas. The companies are supposed to put up bonds to pay for the cleanups. But at least 17 companies have defaulted on the bonds. The Bureau of Land Management has collected $132 million in bonds. But it'll cost as much as $1 billion to plug those wells and restore the land around them. (AP via Billings Gazette)