THE ELUSIVE BONANZA: The Story of Oil Shale--America's Richest and Most Neglected Natural Resource

by Chris Welles ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 1970

Another cause for ecologists? Oil shale, a potential major source of petroleum for the United States, does not spill, leak or otherwise befoul the earth. For those who play the numbers game--there are 17,000 square miles of oil shale in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, eighty to eighty-five percent of which are owned by the federal government. These fields are potentially the source of a supply of petroleum which could service the United States for almost 2000 years. Chris Welles, who lost his job as business editor of Life after selling his cancelled story of oil shale to Harper's, argues against the ""truism"" that development of these fields is not economically feasible. On the contrary, their development would constitute a threat to the oil industry. Welles sketches the web of legal interpretation and reinterpretation of mining statutes which have tangled and immobilized the Department of the Interior, as well as the intrigue among bureaucrats and the oratory of Senators. A well-balanced perspective of the factual, industrial, economic and governmental history of oil shale since its discovery in 1913. The style enlivens the subject considerably.

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION