By Senior Energy Policy Advisor Dave Alberswerth

“We commend Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on his announcement today that the Bureau of Land Management will halt the Bush administration’s 11th-hour round of oil shale research and development lease solicitations. This solicitation was rushed out the door in the waning days of the Bush administration and requires much more public scrutiny.

WASHINGTON - Ignoring the wishes of two governors and numerous members of Congress, the Bush administration announced today final regulations for a commercial oil shale program affecting almost 2 million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. These regulations lay out the rules governing royalty rates, evaluation of lease bids, mitigation requirements, and other technical and procedural elements of commercial oil shale leasing and production.

WASHINGTON — “The Bush administration has moved forward on its plan for commercial oil shale development without any clear understanding of the impacts on local communities, the environment, or the region’s economy," said Chase Huntley of The Wilderness Society in a statement today. "The administration and their boosters in Congress are pushing the promise of oil shale in the hope of scoring political points by leading Americans to believe it will lower today’s high energy prices. It will not.