Greetings,

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issues new oil shale research leases.

This week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will issue a new round of oil shale research, development and design (RD&D) leases in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. The new leases will give priority to applications that consider water and energy needs, as well as impacts to the environment and local economies. 

The Department of the Interior has also pledged to launch a formal investigation into the 11th hour changes made to the first round of RDD leases that were issued by the Bush administration. These changes provided favors to the oil shale industry, and an unfair burden to American taxpayers. 

While the new leases are an improvement over the first round of leases that were issued during the previous administration, it is unnecessary to keep offering public land for oil shale development when so much of the oil shale reserve lies in private lands owned by the oil and gas industry. In addition, we have yet to receive substantive information on the first round of leases issued.

Stay tuned for a message on how to take action on this announcement in the coming week and check out the Oil Shale Facts web site to get up-to-date on recent developments on the fate of oil shale in Colorado!

Joe Neuhof
oilshalefacts.org