Press Releases
Press releases are archived according to their release date. For press releases by topic, please see the Issue Positions page.
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today blasted an announcement by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to drastically limit research, demonstration and development of oil shale and tar sands in the West, including areas in Utah. Today’s announcement cuts the amount of land available for oil shale and tar sands land considerably from what was opened for leasing in 2008.
“Once again, despite President Obama’s calls for an ‘all of the above’ energy approach, his Administration is moving to limit American energy production and the jobs that come with it,” Hatch said. “The West has the resources and the abilities to lower energy costs and create jobs but Washington continues to stand in the way. Today’s announcement just doesn’t make sense, and it needs to be reversed.”
In February, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reduced the amount of federal lands available to oil shale and tar sands development from 2 million acres to only 461,965 acres. Hatch pressed the Department of the Interior once the BLM ruling was announced, stressing that their restrictive decision means more oil will be imported and jobs sent overseas. Later that month, Hatch led a letter of Utah’s congressional delegation to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking that he overturn BLM’s ruling.
“Once again, despite President Obama’s calls for an ‘all of the above’ energy approach, his Administration is moving to limit American energy production and the jobs that come with it,” Hatch said. “The West has the resources and the abilities to lower energy costs and create jobs but Washington continues to stand in the way. Today’s announcement just doesn’t make sense, and it needs to be reversed.”
In February, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reduced the amount of federal lands available to oil shale and tar sands development from 2 million acres to only 461,965 acres. Hatch pressed the Department of the Interior once the BLM ruling was announced, stressing that their restrictive decision means more oil will be imported and jobs sent overseas. Later that month, Hatch led a letter of Utah’s congressional delegation to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking that he overturn BLM’s ruling.