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Page added on April 14, 2011
US govt to review plans to develop oil shale, tar sands
Green groups oppose tar sands, oil shale as polluting
* About 1.9 mln acres opened for oil shale development (adds BLM comment, opposition to tar sands)
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Wednesday it will “take a fresh look” at plans issued under the prior Bush administration to develop commercial oil shale and tar sands in three U.S. states.
The Interior Department said its Bureau of Land Management plans to review the environmental impact of allocating oil shale and tar sands resources on federal government-owned lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
The BLM in 2008, during the administration of President George W. Bush, issued an environmental impact statement on making 1.9 million acres of public lands available for oil shale development and 431,244 acres to lease for tar sands development.
“With commercial development of oil shale at least several years away, the new planning process will allow the BLM to take a fresh look at what public lands are best suited for oil shale and tar sands development,” the agency said.
“Final land-use decisions will be made in light of any new information about potential resource needs and impacts, and technological innovations,” the BLM said.
Oil is released from tar sands and shale rock when they are heated.
Many environmental groups are against tar sands and oil shale because they generate more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil. Green groups argue the tar sands development, in particular, conflicts with the Obama administration’s efforts to fight global warming.
Environmental groups oppose TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) proposed Keystone XL pipeline that will bring Canadian tar sands oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. The U.S. State Department is considering whether to issue a permit for the Keystone project.
3 Comments on "US govt to review plans to develop oil shale, tar sands"
DC on Thu, 14th Apr 2011 10:48 am
Good, I now you americans will get to see first hand what a real enviromental disaster-in-progress looks like up close and in real time. Americans have essentially been able to off-load the air water and ground pollution of Alberta’s tar sands to some far away place most americans couldnt locate on a map even if you gave them one and drew a big circle on it. I really hope they are serious and go all out and devastate huge areas in the united snakes proper. I bet you cant wait for the hundred meter high tailings ponds(visible from low-Earth orbit, and guranteed to leak and or break, built with pride in the us of a and all). The massive amounts of nat-gas youll need to cook all that crud to squeeze out that heavy corrisve toxic “oil”. The moonscape like sheen tar-sands “development” brings to the land. Your gonna love it…
Ian Cooper on Thu, 14th Apr 2011 9:10 pm
I just cannot believe they’re seriously considering this. This will guarantee runaway global warming and put paid to any chance our descendants have of perpetuating the species.
Maybe this is why the universe is not chock full of advanced civilizations -maybe lack of forethought means they always find ways to screw their planet up before they can expand beyond it.
We can’t argue that we didn’t know about this stuff. Looks like we had it coming. Let’s hope there’s some alien civilization out there that’s smarter than us, and that can build a worthwhile galactic civilization. I’d hate to think we were the only chance our galaxy had, and that we blew it so stupidly.
Rick on Thu, 14th Apr 2011 10:30 pm
This proves Peak Oil is real! Desperate actions to keep the stupid cars running.
And btw, this won’t fix anything.