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U.S.
Senator Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Wednesday, June 18, 2008 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630 |
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| Sen. Salazar: "President's Rhetoric Out of Touch with Oil and Gas Prices and Western Communities" WASHINGTON, DC - Today, United States Senator Ken Salazar issued the following statement in response to the President’s comments this morning about oil shale and energy development: “The President’s rhetoric this morning on oil shale showed that he is fundamentally out of touch with the realities of oil shale development and western communities. As energy companies, western governors, local communities, energy experts, and the BLM have all testified, the barriers to oil shale development are economic, technological, and environmental, not legal or regulatory. The current one-year moratorium on commercial oil shale leasing is certainly not the barrier to oil shale development. Even under the most optimistic circumstances, oil shale could not be developed until 2015, at the earliest. As the BLM has testified, the President’s proposal to have a fire-sale on commercial oil shale leases will not accelerate this process, nor will it have any impact on gas prices. The only thing it will do is place western Colorado’s land, water, and way of life at risk and invite the type of speculation that could cause yet another bust on oil shale. “If we are to succeed in exploiting Colorado’s vast oil shale resources, we need to pursue a thoughtful, responsible approach to development. That means proceeding with oil shale research and development, answering questions about commercial development’s impacts on the West, and then proceeding carefully toward commercial development. Rushing ahead with a commercial lease sale amounts to putting the cart before the horse. “The President’s proposal to open up all off-shore areas to oil and gas drilling is equally unhelpful. The fact is that vast amounts of federal land, on-shore and off-shore, are leased to energy companies for development, but remain undeveloped. There are 68 million acres of leased but inactive federal land that have the potential to produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day. This would nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75 percent. The President should call on energy companies to develop these areas, and the areas that Congress has opened up over the last three years, rather than proposing to sell off leases in new areas. “I was also disappointed that the President did not pledge to take strong action to curb speculation in oil markets. Energy experts are testifying that a large portion of the recent spikes in oil prices are attributable to rampant speculation. He should urge regulatory agencies to take strong and smart action to curb this speculation. “Finally, we need to continue our work to break our addiction to foreign oil by developing home-grown affordable alternatives. Only by cutting our dependency will we better insulate ourselves from the wild price swings in the oil market and the whims of leaders in oil-rich foreign countries.” ###
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