Revived interest in oil shale makes sense

Published June 5, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

If producing oil from the West's vast deposits of oil shale is feasible economically, environmentally and politically, it must and should be done. The world will be a safer place if the United States becomes the global "swing" producer that stabilizes the price of oil - the U.S., not Saudi Arabia, not the Middle East, not unpredictable third-world providers such as Nigeria or Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

And stable prices - even more than low prices - help the economy grow steadily. It was low prices, not high ones, that turned the last oil-shale boom into a bust whose effects lingered on the Western Slope for years.

At the same time, it is prudent to make haste slowly. Avoiding boom-and-bust is important, but avoiding environmental disasters is essential. Many of the disasters whose effects still trouble us could have been avoided - had anybody cared enough at the time to try.

All that being said, the increased interest in oil shale - - as demonstrated by last week's hearing in Grand Junction organized by Sen. Ken Salazar and two colleagues- is welcome, even if commercial production is years away. Doubling the world's supply of oil will ease the eventual transition to other forms of energy.

Featured

• Denver turns 150

  

  Read about the city's history, look at old photos and see a list of influential Denverites.

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Weekend plans?

  

  Figure out things to do this weekend with the help of our entertainment calendar.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's pregame rant on the Raiders.

• Season To Share

  

  The Post-News Season To Share campaign provides grants to area nonprofits.

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  The Rocky was there when Colorado became a state in 1876. Read our coverage.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  And the winner is... Robert Ziegler! See the whole fiction series by clicking here.