http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=93381.0

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2009

Contact: Kristina Johnson
415.977.5619

           Interior to Scrap Bush Administration Oil Shale Plans

Washington, D.C. - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced he will
toss out Bush administration midnight regulations designed to rush oil
shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Salazar said the oil shale
leasing proposal issued by the Bush administration in January was flawed
and that royalties to be paid by the oil industry were too low. The
Department of Interior will now open a 90-day comment period allowing the
public to weigh in on what oil shale research and development leases should
contain.

Producing a liquid fuel from oil shale entails heating solid rock to
temperatures in excess of 600°F.  The large amounts of energy needed to
heat and process oil shale would increase the global warming emissions that
contribute to climate change.

Oil shale development also requires a great deal of water, a limited
resource in the arid West.  The BLM estimates that in Colorado alone, oil
shale development could consume more water than the Denver Metro area, home
to over 2 million people.

Sportsmen have also expressed concern that unchecked oil shale development
would destroy key wildlife habitat in places like Utah's Book Cliffs and
Colorado's Piceance Basin.


Statement of Lawson LeGate, Director of Sierra Club Hunter-Angler Program:

Oil shale threatens to destroy wildlife and fish habitat, poison our air
and water, and dry up rivers in the West. This is one of the dirtiest and
most wasteful forms of energy in the world.

The Bush administration pushed these regulations through in its waning days
in an effort to fast-track this destructive and unproven energy source. We
are encouraged to see Secretary Salazar bringing science and public review
back into this process. Before we rush to develop this unproven energy
source, we need to know more about how it will impact our water, wildlife,
and economy.

Instead of promoting this dirty fossil fuel, we should be investing in the
West's abundant clean energy sources like wind and solar power. By
investing in clean energy, we can keep our best wildlife habitat intact and
pass on a wild legacy to future generations.


www.sierrasportsmen.org
The Sierra Sportsmen Network is a countrywide, thousands-strong group of
conservation-minded anglers and hunters. Since the Sierra Club was founded
in 1892, hunters and anglers have played a leadership role in our work to
preserve the wild places and wildlife all Americans enjoy.


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