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Vast deposits of oil shale in the American west are being eyed for development to reduce reliance on foreign sources of oil and bring down the price of fuel. A recent report Dr. Adam Brandt at the University of California Berkeley, as reported by greencarcongress, tallies the environmental cost.

Here's the bottom line: oil shale releases 21% to 47% more greenhouse gases (GHG) than conventional oil production, consumes scarce water resources and threatens grounwater flow and quality.

The analysis assumes the oil is extracted from shale using the in-situ conversion process (ICP) developed by Royal Dutch Shell. The process works by literally heating the Earth to depths of 1000 feet for two or more years with massive electric heaters inserted into the ground. The extraction process is so energy intensive that it produces only 1.2 to 1.6 times more energy than it consumes, so it might be thought of as energy conversion as much as it is energy production.

Despite these questionable trade-offs and environmental risks, Dick Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior Department, recently announced proposed regulations for developing shale in three western states and has given oil companies six leases for demonstration projects.

The US has bountiful supplies of oil shale, 60% to 70% of the world's deposits. It's estimated that our shale holds three times as much oil as all of Saudi Arabia and for that reason has long been considered a potentially enormous oil supply waiting for the right time, the right technology and the right price. A recent Rand study says extraction isn't profitable unless oil is selling for $70 to $95 per barrel although Shell has said it could be competitive at $30/bbl. With oil around $120/bbl now, it should be economically competitive and with Americans very unhappy about the price of gasoline, expect increasing political pressure to tap the shale reserves. The current battle over offshore drilling is a precursor of a much bigger fight.

With energy, climate change and rising fuel prices the key issues of concern to voters, you wonder what possessed John McCain to put climate-skeptic Sarah Palin one heartbeat away from the presidency -- instead of far more qualified candidates on his short list of potential nominees.

Palin wasted no time in exhibiting her skeptic credentials in a Newsmax interview the day of her appointment.

A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Florida Governor Charlie Crist were almost tapped for the #2 spot instead. Let's have a look at their energy and climate policy record to see what might have been.

Read it and weep.

Which presidential candidate is best equipped to give America an effective and moral foreign policy and to ensure our economic security?

The truth is, oil, not presidents, control our foreign policy. That has been the case for a very long time. For all the good it has done, oil has perverted our relationship with other nations, tempted us into behaviors not worthy of our ideals, and cost us enormous loss of life and treasure.

No big surprise at the DNC on Day 4: Obama’s acceptance speech was the story of the night (transcript).

The New York Times’ Chris Suellentrop rounds up early reactions in this aptly titled post: Well Spoken. More reax here from Andrew Sullivan, from the left and right.

Obama put energy squarely in the spotlight, as he dangled this whopper of a promise in front of Americans:

For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Here’s how:

I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

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The big news at the DNC on Day 3? The Democrats formally nominated Barack Obama as their candidate for president in an historic first for America.

The National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru wraps up (scroll down) the rest:

It was the Democrats' best night so far.

Attack-dog Senator Joe Biden formally accepted the VP nomination (transcript). On energy, he declared:

Barack Obama will transform our economy by making alternative energy a genuine national priority, creating 5 million new jobs and finally freeing us from the grip of foreign oil.

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