Wringing oil out of Utah
A major political, economic and environmental decision ahead for Utahns is whether to exploit the state's oil shale.On one side of the debate are conservatives, including Third Congressional District candidate Jason Chaffetz, who say squeezing the pre-oil goop out of western shale is the answer to America's energy problems.
On the other side, environmentalists argue oil shale development would be environmentally catastrophic, even if it were possible—which, they quickly add, it is not.
For those of us who have no idea what they are talking about, the Wall Street Journal offers a quick, painless primer on the realities of oil shale extraction. (Unfortunately, you have to subscribe to read it online.)
The article includes a section on technology that Schlumberger Ltd. hopes will allow them to microwave the oil out of Utah shale while it's still in the ground.
But any production is at least a decade off and many investors, not just environmentalists, predict it will never be financially worth the effort. Investment banker Matthew Simmons:
We can technically put a human on Jupiter. Being technically practical and technically possible are two very different things.
2 Comments:
I'd like to send the Utah congressional delegation and Greg Curtis to Jupiter.
Okay, so I have read a lot of blogs lately and I love how each one quotes Jason Chaffetz as saying the topic of that blog or article is THE answer, be it oil shale, ANWR, etc. In reality, Mr. Chaffetz has said that we need to examine all possibilities...
exploration of alternative energy
sources and increased production of fossil fuels in sources here at home. “Reducing the legal barriers to increased domestic oil
production can resolve short-term energy needs while the
private sector works to develop viable alternative energy
sources,” Chaffetz said.
I think it is very one dimensional to say that he is viewing any one energy source as the solution. This is a multi-faceted problem and needs the same kind of solution...which is what Mr. Chaffetz is advocating. To say otherwise is a distortion of his views.
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