Stop Reckless Development of the Dirtiest Fossil Fuel Ever
At the tail end of the Bush administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) worked overtime to rush through "midnight" regulations - making huge tracts of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming available for commercial oil shale development with sweetheart terms and few environmental protections.
Using current technologies, commercial oil shale development would result in one of the dirtiest fossil fuels the world has ever seen. It would require an extraordinary amount of water and energy in order to turn the waxy kerogen embedded deep within the rock into a synthetic oil substitute. This highly polluting process literally bakes the rock at 500 to 1,000 degrees for more than a year just to liquefy and extract the synthetic crude.
Luckily, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is making efforts to overturn Bush administration policies, but he needs to know that his actions have full public support! Tell Secretary Salazar that you oppose reckless oil shale development.
Dear Secretary Salazar,
I am writing to express my support for your efforts to rescind and revise the Bush-era approach to Western oil shale leasing and production. I especially applaud your recent decision to provide more time for public input and environmental impact studies before any additional federal land oil shale is committed to oil shale production.
You have my full support whether fighting reckless oil shale development, working with Congress to pass legislation to protect our public lands or using the power of your office to implement new policies that advance quick and intelligent development of clean renewable energies.
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