Oil shalers should learn from the past

We are starting to see an apparent interest in oil shale development in our region. I attended a meeting in Salt Lake City on March 30, which in times past would have been one of those smoke-filled room meetings. But of course, now there is no smoking in conference rooms, and in Salt Lake you even have to buy a license to have a drink.

The meeting harkened me back to a time 30 years ago, when energy independence was the watch word and billions of dollars were spent to develop liquid and gaseous fuels from oil shale and coal. Not one drop of commercial fuel was produced. The major company developers packed their bags in the 1980s and returned to their conventional petroleum interests, and essentially all research and development ceased.
Glenwood Springs Post Independent