THE POINTLESSNESS OF OIL SHALE

Everything You Need to Know About Oil Shale; Comprehensive New Oil Shale Report Unveiled as BLM Prepares for Public Meetings in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming
March 7, 2012 (Western Resource Advocates)

…Oil Shale 2050: Data, Definitions & What You Need to Know About Oil Shale in the West [from Western Resource Advocates (WRA) is a] new analysis of oil shale in the Western United States [and] comes just one week ahead of public meetings planned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to discuss a new federal policy on oil shale development…"

[David Abelson, analysis lead author/Oil Shale Policy Advisor, WRA:] “We looked at this issue inside and out, and based on extensive research, we can’t find a good reason why commercial oil shale development should be pursued in the West…I sometimes wonder why this is even a discussion. Oil shale would foul our air and water, soak up enormous amounts of water, and disrupt local economies. And nobody has been able to come up with a viable commercial process to produce it anyway.”

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"...[The report links] water demands and regulatory frameworks with potential oil shale development, examining the history of oil shale and key data points…[and is an ideal guidebook for the BLM ] public meetings in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming next week to discuss proposed federal guidelines for oil shale research and development…[It] follows a late February announcement by Chevron, in which the company decided to stop working on oil shale research in order to redeploy resources towards fuel sources for which extraction technologies already exist."

[Rob Dubuc, Staff Attorney/Oil Shale Expert, WRA Utah:] “Chevron’s announcement is another in a long line of examples proving that nobody knows how to develop oil shale on a commercial scale…Oil and gas companies are abandoning oil shale research independently, yet the State of Utah is still preparing to turn over public resources for speculative development. That’s like building a factory before you know how to make the widget. It doesn’t make sense.”