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Originally Posted by packrat44
This is definitely a viable way for the US to reduce their dependency on foreign oil over the long term. It is capital intensive and there is a long time until producing. As in the mid '70s, there is the fear that after large expenditures that the OPEC nations could simply crank up production and lower the cost of crude thereby putting the hurt to the oil shale project. There is also the politics. Can you imagine Al Gore or any politician from an oil producing state voting for such a project?
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As far as politicians go, some of them may have had an easy time explaining to their constituents why they opposed oil shale with $20 oil and $1 gas, but "green" arguments tend to get trumped by severe economic needs. The same argument that mollified people with cheap oil may not work for any but the most hard-core greens today.
As for oil producing states, how many are there? Most are not, at least not to the point of expensive oul being a net gain for their district or state's economic condition.
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