VERNAL, Utah - It isn't working out and it's costing taxpayers money. Those are two reasons a congressional watchdog group opposes oil shale development in eastern Utah and neighboring states. In a new report, Taxpayers for Common Sense says the government should stop making loan and price guarantees to oil companies to explore an energy source that it says, so far, has not paid off.
Autumn Hanna, senior program director with the group, says if the oil industry wants to continue to experiment with oil shale, it should foot the bill itself.
"Our concern is that taxpayers are providing subsidies to an industry that, one, doesn't need it - and two, has already shown that with subsidies, cannot be proven to be commercially viable. So, with oil shale, we feel like we're throwing good money after bad - and we just think the federal government cannot afford to go down this path right now."
Oil shale is a rock that can only be used as a fuel source when it is superheated, a process Hanna says often requires as much energy as it creates. It is not to be confused with "shale oil," which is liquid oil trapped in rock that can be extracted and has been lucrative.
Utah Rep. Jim Matheson has co-sponsored a bill (HR 6603) by a Texas congressman that would create $50 million in new subsidies for oil companies. Steve Bloch, an attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, says a couple of companies have oil shale projects in the Uinta Basin. His group's concern is that it adds to the area's already serious air pollution problems.
"It seems quite shocking and remarkable to think that at a time of financial belt-tightening, we would be offering a leg up to this industry that has nothing to show for nearly a century's worth of work."
The U.S. Geological Survey says there are "significant technological and environmental challenges" to developing oil shale, and that no current method exists to do it profitably. Some energy companies see that as a call for more research and development. The question is, who should pay for it?
The Taxpayers for Common Sense report is at www.taxpayer.net.
Article By: Chris Thomas
Original Publication URL: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/29850-1
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