(Utah/Colorado/Wyoming) - (UPDATED WITH VIDEO AT END OF ARTICLE) - Elected officials from Utah, Colorado and Wyoming today released a letter that was sent to the Bureau of Land Management in support of an oil shale plan that reflects “a common sense approach that puts the prosperity of our region first.” The letter, from more than 30 Western elected officials, was submitted during the 90-day period that the BLM was accepting comments on its draft plan for oil shale and tar sands leasing. Below is the letter:

May 4, 2012

Draft OSTS PEIS

Argonne National Laboratory

9700 S. Cass Ave.

EVS/240

Argonne, IL 60439

Re: Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources Programmatic EIS

Dear Bureau of Land Management,

We are writing to express our support for the approach that is being taken in the Bureau of Land Management’s recently released Draft Programmatic EIS (PEIS) for oil shale and tar sands, which defines the terms of potential future leasing of oil shale and tar sands deposits on federal lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. As elected officials in these states, we believe it is essential that the final plan ensures that key questions are answered before opening public land to commercial development.

Given that a commercial industry does not yet exist, it is smart to require that research and development of oil shale and tar sands technologies be completed and the impacts analyzed before moving forward with a commercial leasing program. The final plan should reflect a common sense approach that puts the prosperity of our region first. Our public lands are enormous economic drivers in the Intermountain West. Tourism, recreation, hunting and fishing, ranching, and other industries provide billions of dollars of revenue and hundreds of thousands jobs throughout the three-state region. Our public lands also contain the headwaters to critical western water supplies, the economic backbone of our economies. The BLM has acknowledged in the Draft PEIS that the potential impacts of development on communities, water and air are largely unknown but potentially significant. We do not know, for instance, if either industry would produce significant revenues, but we do know that development would divert critical water resources from existing and future uses and require trade-offs that may be substantial, but which we cannot yet assess. We thus strongly urge the BLM to prioritize research and development in the final PEIS, to ensure that impacts are analyzed and we can make smart decisions about commercial leasing. These lands are our heritage, and for many, our livelihoods. Asrepresentatives of communities across the three-state region, we have a responsibility to work to protect those values.

It is critical that we know more about the impacts of oil shale and tar sands development before putting communities, water and air at risk.

Sincerely,



Ken Esquibel

Wyoming House of Representatives

District 41

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Representative Stan Blake

Wyoming House of Representatives

House District 39

Green River, WY



Bernadine Craft

Wyoming House of Representatives

District 17

Rock Springs, Wyoming



Floyd Esquibel

Wyoming Senate

District 8

Cheyenne, Wyoming



Joyce Corcoran

Rock Springs City Council

Rock Springs, WY



Erik Molvar

Laramie City Council

Laramie, WY



Dr. Klaus Hanson

Laramie City Council

Laramie, WY



Representative Brian King

Minority Assistant Whip

Utah House of Representatives

District 28

Salt Lake City, UT



David Litvack

Minority Leader

Utah House of Representatives

District 26

Salt Lake City, UT



Rebecca Chavez-Houck

Utah House of Representatives

District 24

Salt Lake City, UT



Sally Elliott

Summit County Council

Summit County, UT



Audrey Graham

Grand County Council

Moab, UT



Christopher F. Robinson

Summit County Council

Park City, UT



Dave Sakrison

Mayor, City of Moab

Moab, UT



Jim Bradley

Salt Lake County Council

Former Director of Utah Energy Office

Salt Lake City, UT



Roger Wilson

Colorado State Representative

House District 61



Millie Hammer

Colorado State Representative

House District 56



Dan Gibbs

Summit County Commissioner

Summit County, CO



Thomas Davidson

Summit County Commissioner

Summit County, CO



Karn Stiegelmeier

Summit County Commissioner

Summit County, CO



Forrest Whitman

Gilpin County Commissioner

Gilpin County, CO



Tim Mauck

Clear Creek County Commissioner

Clear Creek County, CO



Stephen Bersheyni

Glenwood Springs City Council

Glenwood Springs, CO



Rachel E. Richards,

Pitkin County Commissioner

Pitkin County, CO



Lynn Padgett

Ouray County Commissioner

Ouray, CO



Leo McKinney

Glenwood Springs City Council

Mayor Pro-Tem

Glenwood Springs, CO



Bruce Christensen

Former Mayor

Glenwood Springs, CO





Frosty Merriott

Carbondale Town Council

Carbondale, CO



John Hoffmann

Carbondale Town Council

Carbondale, CO



Allyn Harvey

Carbondale Town Council

Carbondale, CO



Gerry Horak

Fort Collins City Council

Fort Collins, CO