Democrats Attempt to Put Utah Land and Resources in a Lockbox
Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) today offered an amendment to HR 2337 to strike a provision that will create serious obstacles to oil shale and tar sands development in the West, including those in eastern Utah. Upon offering his amendment, Congressman Cannon said,
"The last time Democrats controlled Congress they locked up southern Utah. Now they are trying to lock up eastern Utah with an eye towards crippling energy development in the west. The potential for Oil Shale development in Utah to vastly decrease our dependence on foreign oil makes this bill not only bad policy, but bad for national security. Environmental hysteria never lit one light bulb or heated one home, and with gas prices at more than $3.00 a gallon, now is not the time to be turning off the spigots from promising resources."
Rich in oil shale deposits, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming hold a conservative estimate of 2 trillion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River formation. That is the equivalent of 1-2 times the total world crude oil reserves - triple the amount of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. 2 trillion barrels of oil is enough to meet the current U.S. demands for the next 400 years.
The provisions contained in Section 104 of HR 2337 would mandate studies and new "strategies" on oil shale that appear to be intended to delay or prevent development of those resources that is beginning to occur under laws enacted by Congress only two years ago.
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