Avert another energy bust

Western states that bore the brunt of the energy bust of the 1980s have no desire to revisit those days. It took years for small towns in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming to recover.

As such, it should come as no surprise that a good number of Westerners are wary of the effort to take another look at developing oil shale reserves in Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. A provision of the Energy Policy Act, introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and co-sponsored by Sen. Bob Bennett, will authorize development of oil shale and tar sands. Oil shale and tar sands in the western United States are believed to contain an estimated 2.6 trillion barrels of oil.

Hatch and Bennett are correct in that the United States needs to explore energy options other than continued dependence on foreign oil. More than 20 years after the last attempts at oil shale development, many question whether it is economically viable and environmentally prudent. Some experts believe that the new energy bill, which authorizes the Bureau of Land Management's commercial development of these resources, will spur on commercial exploration of this energy source.

Unlike the oil shale bust of the 1980s, this version of the energy bill calls for a task force of community, government and industry representatives to prepare a five-year plan to hedge against another boom and bust cycle. What a refreshing idea.

Although the legislation calls for a five-year plan, industry experts say it could take at least a decade to develop an oil shale venture. Some oil companies have conducted years of field exploration, yet decisions about commercialization aren't expected before the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, communities involved in the task force process need to ask a lot of questions. How has the technology improved from the 1980s version of oil sand extraction? Can oil be extracted from shale and tar sands in an environmentally sound fashion? What happens to the waste from these activities? Can the ordinarily thirsty West spare the water that will be needed for large-scale extraction processes? What's the long-term forecast for the use of petro-chemicals vs. alternative fuels such as methane or hydrogen? In other words, is this even a viable option?

Current petroleum supply trends suggest that the United States does not have the luxury of reacting to a dwindling worldwide crude oil supply. A wiser course is to plan for the future, because the oil debate isn't just about energy security; it's a matter of political stability. But much investigation needs to be done to determine if oil shale and tar sands will play a role in future energy demands or if America's time and investment dollars would be better spent elsewhere.