As residents of the Uintah Basin, we are working closely with the Department of Energy and Department of Defense to encourage diligent, environmentally prudent and economical development of oil shale.

The potential U.S. oil shale reserves, most of which lie in the Green River formation of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, amount to more than 2 trillion barrels. For verification, see the DOE Web site, http://www.fossil.energy.gov

This does not even address tar sands and other fossil fuels known to exist in this region. Mr. Bragg may be correct in his assumption of billions of barrels in the Middle East but it doesn't take a doctorate in mathematics to know the difference between billion and trillion.

With the emergence of China and India along with all of the other countries demanding more oil, how much of that Middle East reserve will the United States get? Surely, not enough to come close to our demand.

Let's thank the good senator for his efforts to pursue our own resources, not bash him with lame ridicule and ignorance. We Americans should be non-partisan on energy research and development of our known fossil fuel resources while we pursue alternative fuels.

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Bill Johnson is the economic development director for Uintah County and Vernal City.