Payoffs, Part Two

Now for the other half of that dwindling base, greedy corporate interests.

Firing off another decision that is angering environmental groups, the Bush administration has issued new regulations to develop oil shale deposits straddling almost two million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

The rules lay out the framework to develop these deposits over the next decade, including royalty rates, how to evaluate bids for leases, mitigation requirements and other procedural elements.

Last fall, Congress foolishly allowed a moratorium on the development of oil shale, a singularly dirty and polluting process, to lapse,

[b]ut most experts had expected the rules on how to develop the deposits to be left to the next administration.

Instead, they were fast-tracked to get them out before November 20. That's 61 days before the new Congress would start its session - and therefore beyond the 60-day time frame established by the Congressional Review Act, during which Congress can repeal any new rules by majority vote. That is, they were produced in time that rescinding them would require a whole new regulation-writing process, which could take months.

The White House goons insist this is for our own good.

“Oil shale is a strategically important domestic energy source that should be developed to reduce the nation’s growing dependence on oil from politically and economically unstable foreign sources,” said James Caswell, the director of the B.L.M. [Bureau of Land Management]

But instead it is just another giveaway to the oil companies who are hoping to lock in industry-preferred regulations and favorable leases on public lands for an oil shale industry that doesn't exist - there are no oil shale mines or refineries - and is unlikely to produce any oil for decades.

How bad is oil shale? The Natural Resources Defense Council calls it "the dirtiest fuel on the planet" because, among other reasons, it is expected to emit two to four times more global warming pollution than production of conventional gasoline. What's more, no one knows for sure how much energy will be required or how much air and water pollution it will generate. But it can be said that it will require three or more barrels of water - liquid gold in the arid regions of the US west where the oil shale deposits lie - for every barrel of oil produced. And because it will be more expensive than conventional fuel, it probably wouldn't even cut gas prices.

To top it off, oil shale is lousy fuel.

Pound per pound, oil shale contains just one-tenth the energy of crude oil, one-sixth that of coal, and one-fourth that of recycled phone books. ... Dung cakes have four times more energy than does oil shale. ... Oil shale has one-third the energy density of Cap’n Crunch....

Does nothing have as low an energy density as oil shale? Yes, there is something: a baked potato.

So it's unproven, inefficient, expensive, contributes to global warming, and is dirty. But still, the folks at the White House just gotta give the oil industry their heart's desire: more. (The reference to "heart" is purely figurative since the industry clearly lacks one.) And they didn't stop with regulations: The bailout plan contained a provision providing $4 billion in taxpayer handouts to the oil industry to develop tar sands, oil shale, or liquid coal. More, more.

And then - I almost said finally but I doubt it is - there is the fact that

[e]arlier this month, the Bureau of Land Management expanded its oil and gas lease program in eastern Utah to include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks,

a decision made without consulting with the National Park Service. More, more, more.

The incoming Obama administration will be able, if it chooses, to pretty much negate the effect by simply refusing to put leases out for bid until the regs are re-written (or, better yet, rescinded). However, we can be sure it will be under considerable pressure from the energy giants to lease out the lands and how the administration responds might be a good indication of how things are going to go on the energy and corporate fronts.