The Daily Sentinel’s May 5 editorial, “Congress is pushing another shale sham,” insinuated that either I don’t understand or don’t care about the issue of oil shale development in western Colorado. This is unfair and incorrect.

Beneath the lands of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming lay roughly 1.5 trillion barrels of potentially recoverable oil — more than the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. New technologies are emerging that will allow us to responsibly extract this oil in order to help meet our nation’s demands. The long-term benefits to Colorado, and to the American economy, could be tremendous.

I vividly remember “Black Sunday” in May, 1982, and the hardship it brought to western Colorado. During my tenure as a U.S. senator, I have advocated a “go-slow” approach on oil-shale development, and that approach has been saluted in previous editorials by the Sentinel.

My position has not changed. Crafting regulations does not authorize commercial leasing or the development of any project. Years from now, when leases are sold in Colorado and projects are actually proposed, each project will be required to go through the full NEPA process and will be subject to public comment.

The Sentinel editorial contradicts the widely held sentiments I’ve heard for years from citizens and elected officials in numerous meetings throughout western Colorado. It also contradicts the requests I have received from Western Slope representatives in the Colorado Legislature, who believe as I do, that Western Slope communities have much to gain from responsible oil shale development.

Allowing the Interior Department to issue the regulations necessary to establish the “rules of the road” simply makes good sense. Ignoring the need to develop these rules would be ignoring the citizens and elected officials of western Colorado.

SEN. WAYNE ALLARD
Washington, D.C.