Congress Abandons Accelerated Shale-Oil Plan - Denver Post

[hatrack]

Washington - Congress has dropped a plan to speed up oil- shale development in western Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The proposal by House Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., would have eliminated requirements for consultation with state and local officials on oil-shale development. It also called for limiting environmental reviews and capping royalty payments.

The legislation would have thrown out a compromise on oil-shale development worked out with Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., in the energy bill that passed last summer. Pombo added the proposal to a five-year budget plan in October.

But when the House voted on the final version of the bill Monday, the oil-shale language had been stripped out. No reason was given, but Democrats had been trying to get rid of the language since it was introduced in October.

Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said the plan looked like the policies that led to Colorado's 1982 "Black Sunday" shale crash. "Many Coloradans remember the mistaken crash-development policy of the Carter administration," Udall said. "It was a mistake then, and it would be a mistake now."

EDIT

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_3324999

[phantom power]

1. I know why *I* would strip that language...

but if it was removed by some GOP-dominated subcommittee, it makes me wonder why they removed it. It seems awfully unlikely that the GOP has suddenly gotten all concerned about maintaining proper environmental regs.

[Boomer]

2. Oil from shale is a boondoggle

Even without the considerable environmental damage, the energy cost of extracting oil from shale is almost as great as the energy it returns. Might as well use the energy directly.

[Oerdin]

4. More then likely...

Some state GOP officials were upset by the cap on royalties. The state officials likely want to get a bigger slice of the money and aren't concerned about little things like the enviroment.

[Strelnikov_]

3. Probably Figured Out The EPR Is Less Than 1

So they are rewriting the bill to increase the government subsidies.

We are talking the GOP, after all.