This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If anyone questions the rosy assertions in the letter by the American Petroleum Institute's Erik Milito ("Oil shale benefits" Forum, Sept. 18), just do a Google image search on Canadian tar sands and shale oil to see what these processes have done to pristine areas in Alberta, Canada. Or look up the March 2009 National Geographic to see the environmental catastrophe caused by these kinds of endeavors.
At least Canada has the water required to provoke this devastation. Let's not forget that Utah is a semidesert, and the Colorado River basin's water is needed not just by us but by several other states as well.
John R. Peterson
Salt Lake City