Utah’s oil shale, tar sands in for a bumpy ride

Eastern Utah might be blessed with abundant oil shale and tar sands, but getting those "unconventional" hydrocarbons out of the ground, processed and delivered to market still face financial, technical and regulatory obstacles, according to speakers Tuesday at a University of Utah energy conference. And that’s not to mention activist pushback, which conference goers got to experience when a small group of well-attired demonstrators briefly commandeered the conference during a keynote by Juan Palma, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Utah director. "Our land and water should be held for the good of everyone. Our lungs are not yours to fill with toxic dust," a protester shouted at the event staged by the U.’s Institute for Clean and Secure Energy in the Rice-Eccles Stadium tower. "We are standing up for life. You are profiting from death." Palma all but ceded the podium to the protesters, associated with Utah Tar Sands Resistance, who railed against petroleum extraction for about 10 minutes before U. police escorted them away...more