Washington » Sen. Ken Salazar isn't a fan of moving swiftly on oil shale production in the Intermountain West and likely will have a big impact on the controversial issue if confirmed as President-elect Barack Obama's pick for Interior secretary.

Salazar was the author of language inserted into a congressional spending bill that blocked the federal government from pursuing a leasing program to allow oil-shale exploration on federal lands. That ban ended Oct. 1, and the Bush administration is now formulating a way to dole out leases in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

Salazar says the production of synthetic fuel from oil shale -- a sedimentary rock -- isn't yet commercially viable and the government needs to ensure vast tracts of Western land aren't destroyed in the attempt to harvest the energy source.

"If we are to succeed in developing oil-shale responsibly, which I support, we need to establish an orderly process for development that protects Colorado's communities, protects our water, and helps us avoid the busts that have, in the past, set us back," Salazar said recently.

The news that Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, was Obama's designee for the job brought cautionary reaction from those who are trying to tap oil shale.

"If there's a positive in this election, it is that Sen. Salazar understands Western issues," says Jeff Hartley, a Utah Republican and an energy industry consultant. "If there's a downside, it's that he's been rather myopic with regard to emerging technologies."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has said the oil-shale deposits in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming are the equivalent of Saudi Arabia's massive crude oil resources.