House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today regarding the draft Bureau of Land Management plan to close public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to oil shale development:

“The distinction between the pro-American job policies of House Republicans and the anti-American energy policies of the Obama Administration could not be clearer. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Committee approved a bipartisan bill to promote the development of U.S. oil shale and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs. On Friday, the Obama Administration released their plan to close over a million acres of federal land to oil shale development. Republicans have a plan to expand access to American energy resources, grow our economy, and put people back to work. The Obama Administration has a plan to lock-up U.S. energy resources and send jobs overseas. This unfortunately is just one more example to add to the ever-growing list of Obama Administration actions that block U.S. energy production.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. holds more than half of the world’s oil shale resources. The largest known deposits of oil shale are located in a 16,000-square mile area in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. USGS estimates show the region may hold more than 1.5 trillion barrels of oil – six times Saudi Arabia’s proven resources, and enough to provide the United States with energy for the next 200 years.

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