Roundtable Urges Congress to Support American Energy
Western Business Roundtable
Support American Energy: Vote Yes on H.R. 2540
Dear Member of Congress:
On behalf of the CEOs and Western business leaders of the Western Business Roundtable, I write express our support for H.R. 2540, The Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy and Resource Security (PIONEERS) Act.�
The American West offers the world's largest deposits of oil shale. The Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming is estimated to contain 1.2-1.8 trillion barrels of oil. Using even conservative estimates, there are 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from the oil shale in this area. That is three times larger than the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. The federal government can significantly and positively impact this domestic opportunity. It controls over 70 percent of these oil shale reserves.�
Unfortunately, many in Congress seem bent on hobbling the commercial leasing of these vast oil shale resources in the West. We believe this approach is terribly wrong. Ironically, delay is hindering the development of the very technology many of the proponents of more delay are requesting. It certainly delays the objective of becoming a more energy independent country in an unstable world, and it diminishes the economic opportunities for jobs in our Western communities. Perhaps most importantly, delay takes out of the mix a source of fuel that has the ability, in the future, to substantially mitigate the price volatility for fuels that has so battered American consumers in recent years.�
The Roundtable strongly urges your support of H.R. 2540. Allow the technology development process to work. Doing so will benefit the West and the nation.
Best regards,
Jim Sims
President & CEO
Western Business Roundtable
jsims@westernroundtable.com
The Western Business Roundtable is a broad-based coalition of companies doing business in the Western United States. Our members are engaged in a wide array of enterprises, including: manufacturing; retail energy sales; mining; electric power generation and transmission; energy infrastructure development; oil and gas exploration development, transportation and distribution; and energy services. We work to defend the interests of the West and support policies that encourage economic growth and opportunity, freedom of enterprise and a common-sense, balanced approach to conservation and environmental stewardship.
The opinions expressed in this letter represent the views of a majority of Roundtable Members, but not necessarily all of our members.
