Editor:
Last Thursday, Colorado Senator Wayne Allard and New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici introduced a bill that would repeal a one-year moratorium on approval of final regulations for commercial oil shale leases on federal land. The senators see the bill as an immediate answer to our high fuel prices, yet the BLM doesn’t expect commercial oil shale development to begin for at least 10 years.
There is no need to repeal the funding moratorium placed upon the federal oil shale leasing program. The moratorium went into effect due to a lack of proven technology, and it remains the case today. Energy companies just want to tie up thousands of publicly owned acres as oil prices continue to escalate.
Little does the public know, but energy companies already own over 2 million acres of oil shale lands across the West. This raises a very serious question concerning appropriation of public assets for private gain.
We the public must demand that our government maintain the funding moratorium until all costs and benefits associated with oil shale production are known. Only after diligent analysis and discussion should we begin to think about leasing public oil shale lands. Until then, let us keep our public assets in the lock box.
Dale Reed
Montrose
