Oil Shale

Oil Shale Would Upend US Climate Change Work

In a guest commentary published in the Denver Post, WRA President Karin P. Sheldon and scholar-in-residence at the University of Colorado's Environmental Studies program Paul Komor lay out the case why oil shale will set this nation, and the planet, back on achieving climate change goals. Unconventional fuels sources like oil shale and tar sands require huge qualtities of CO2-producing energy to turn them into refinable liquids before they themselves are burned and release yet more CO2. Looking at Canada's example with their tar sands industry, their stated goals of reducing climate altering greenhouse gasses by 6% has instead become an increase of 26%. Read the full op-ed piece here.

WRA Fact Sheet Exposes Holes in Understanding of Oil Shale Economics

Western Resource Advocates has examined claims of the purported economic benefits of oil shale development and has identified flaws in methodologies and gaps in understanding of what the regional impacts of pursuing oil shale could be. Click here to read the Oil Shale Economics Fact Sheet.

Read the Latest Issue of WRA's Oil Shale News

WRA publishes Oil Shale News to keep the media and public up-to-date on events and developments concerning oil shale. Click below to read the latest developments on this controversial resources:

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WRA Voices Oil Shale Concerns on "Environment Report" Radio Program

WRA oil shale policy analyst David Abelson was featured on the "Environment Report", a radio program produced in the Midwest that investigated the link between oil shale and water. Click here to listen to the broadcast or to read the transcript.

NPR Consults WRA on Oil Shale

National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed WRA oil shale policy advisor David Abelson for a story on oil shale. Abelson's comments were a realistic counterpoint to industry's dubious claims of a bright future for a resource that has never been proven to be commercially feasible nor environmentally sensible. Listen to the story here.

WRA Fights Oil Shale Leasing Regulations

WRA has strenuously opposed draft regulations issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in July to begin commercial-scale leasing of millions of acres of oil-shale-bearing lands in the West. These draft regulations were held in check by a Congressionally authorized moratorium prohibiting issuance of final leasing regulations. But at the end of September, the moratorium was allowed to expire, and the Bush Administration has made clear its intent to finalize the draft rules.

As WRA pointed out in its comments to the BLM, the draft regulations are premature. No viable technology currently exists that is Pitkin Cartoon capable of commercial-scale oil shale extraction. The processes under development are beset by problems such as energy and water requirements, pollution, and lack of cost-effectiveness that prevent industrial implementation.

In the absence of a viable technology, the draft regulations cannot properly address the issues of royalties, diligence requirements, and other elements of leasing on public lands. The U.S. Treasury stands to lose billions of dollars as these rules, favorable to industry, attempt to regulate the unknown.

“Knowledge must precede action, but in this case politics is preceding common sense,” said David Abelson, who is marshalling WRA’s response to oil shale development. “Research and development must be completed so we can understand if this industry will develop, and if it does, what problems we’ll need to address. Drafting these regulations was a waste of taxpayer dollars. But if they are implemented, the costs will be far, far higher.”

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