The BLM recently announced a small-scale leasing program for oil shale research and experimentation. The Wilderness Society called on Congress and the administration to wait for results from that research, expected to continue for 10 to 15 years, before contemplating commercial oil shale production.

David Tabet, energy and minerals program manager for the Utah Geological Survey said it is important to develop the technology to extract oil from Utah's vast reserves of oil shale and tar sands as the demand for these resources grows.

This isn't the first time the region appeared to hold the solution to the country's energy supply problem. A promising oil shale industry went bust in the 1980s after record-high oil prices finally started to decline, stalling efforts to fully develop the expensive process of getting oil from rocks.

Tabet said Congress must establish an energy policy that will subsidize research and technology development if the price of oil drops.

A U.S. Department of Energy report states that "getting the industry started is the hardest step." High capital costs, investment risks and customary uncertainties surrounding a first-generation facility are hard to stomach, but once started, "a maturing of an oil shale industry . . . can be expected."

Hatch said he is satisfied with the overall direction of the energy bill, which includes numerous Hatch-sponsored provisions for alternative energy and energy efficiency.

"We're tackling three of the most significant factors in the current energy crisis: increasing domestic oil production, closing the bottleneck at our refineries, and promoting alternative energy resources. This all translates into one thing: greater supply, which will directly impact prices and our energy security," Hatch said, who called the oil shale amendment a minor modification.

Among the Hatch provisions:

• Clean Efficient Vehicles Resulting from Advanced Car Technologies, or CLEAR ACT, which provides tax incentives to consumers who purchase alternative-fuel and hybrid-electric vehicles. It also provides tax incentives at the pump for the purchase of alternative transportation fuels, and tax incentives for the purchase and installation of alternativefueling equipment.

• Gas Price Reduction Through Increased Refining Capacity Act, which would provide for accelerated depreciation for new refineries or those increasing their capacity. Hatch's provision would allow refiners to completely write off their new equipment in the first year instead of over the current 10-year depreciation schedule. The economics of refining are so bad that the country has lost almost 200 refineries since the last one was built in the 1970s.

• Geothermal and Renewable Resources, which would promote geothermal energy. Experts say Utah has one of the largest underground hot water reservoirs in the nation. The measure would provide tax incentives for electricity produced from renewable energy facilities placed in service before January 1, 2008.

• Mineral Leasing Act Amendment, which would increase natural gas production by allowing the Secretary of the Interior to issue separate leases for tar sands and oil and gas in the same area. The requirement for industry to obtain leases for both mining and gas extraction activities before gas can be extracted has hampered new production of gas in tar sand areas.

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