Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Anchoress

Home
Catholic
Sneaky Harry Reid Oil Shale Update

Sneaky Harry Reid Oil Shale Update

Last updated on: March 16, 2017 at 5:10 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

Sneaky Harry Reid Oil Shale Update 2017-03-16T17:10:29+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I write below about the egregious, execrable Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and the epic lack of character and utter creepiness of being that he exhibited in exploiting the distraction of a serious crisis to sneak into new legislation a ban on oil shale mining.

The execrable Harry Reid is a fiend. While we’re facing gasoline and home heating oil shortages for this winter and who knows how far into the future, he’s still playing games, still working to make us more dependent, rather than less. In the middle of a financial crisis that should be taking all of his attention, he – as majority leader – still has time to toddle over and sneak in a bit of confounding legislation meant to hobble, not to help, his own nation!

Luckily, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina was apparently keeping his eyes on creepy Harry, and he caught him.

In response to a concerned constituent, Reid wrote of his sneakiness and the oil shale:

There is a possibility the Senate will be asked to vote on reestablishing the moratorium on oil shale extraction. Although Senate Democrats support measures to increase this nation’s energy supply, oil shale extraction has not been proven to be economically viable, will produce more greenhouse gases, and will significantly decrease the West’s water supply.

One of my readers,who is deeply involved in energy exploration and refining, read Harry Reid’s offensively condescending response and emailed the following:

Talk about being out of touch with technology, this is it.

In the late 70s and early 80s, oil shale extraction was water intensive. It required the mined shale to be turned into a slurry before the refining process to remove soil, etc. At that time, costs ran about $40 per barrel of oil from shale – which would boost a refined product like gasoline from shale to around $1.50 – 1.75 per gallon.

The technology that would be used today liquifies the oil locked in the shale by the use of heaters. Several holes would be drilled in a designated area and the heaters inserted. The oil is liquified and pumped to the surface by “grasshopper” pumps. With this method, there’s no mining and no worry of ground subsidence. Cost wise and emissions wise, it’s on par with any other oil field development using grasshoppers.

The amount of oil locked in shale is estimated to be nearly 1 trillion barrels, which is more than the proven reserves in the entire Middle East, before development, in the 1930s. The recovery rate using the heater technology is estimated to be around 80%, or 800 billion barrels of crude.

Wow. Strictly from a laywoman’s perspective this sounds a lot like hope, to me.

Hope that something like this could help to end our dependence on foreign oil. Hope that as we take the ten or fifteen years (or more) we’ll need to transition to cleaner fuels, we won’t have to suffer economic devastation (beyond the obvious) and see our industries and jobs dry up. Hope that new jobs and new opportunities will be created through the increased production. Hope that people without means do not have to freeze in what some meteorologists (and the Farmer’s Almanac) promises will be one of the coldest winters in memory.

Yes, I know we won’t have oil from offshore drilling or from oil shale “tomorrow” but simply by beginning those processes, we will change the psychology of the energy market and increase competition and oil production in other lands, which should lower prices.

My Auntie Lillie used to say “begin as you mean to continue…” It’s excellent advice. If we mean to continue as a self-sufficient nation of enviable resources and opportunity, we’d better damn well begin to get serious about using our own oil fields and our shale deposits. No one is going to “continue” America for us.

I’m sorry if I sound preachy or scolding, but reading about Reid’s perfidy – and that’s not too strong a word, nor is “iniquitous” – really set something set me off, today.

Now, since Atticus Finch is my adopted father, I try to do as he says and “love everyone.” Like him, I am “hard pressed, sometimes,” but I really do try. Still, I have come to the conclusion that you cannot say enough bad things about Harry Reid. Especially when we are facing both financial and energy breakdowns, and he’s playing his games.

I said earlier that I am out of sympathy with 90% of the clowns in Washington, and that is true. But this Reid, he’s the top bozo; he’s the one. I say flood his office with phone calls, email him into stupidity, if he’s not already there. Call his colleagues, left and right and let them know you’ve had enough of this buffoon, and all of his ugly, useless machinations. He’s up for re-election in 2010? Fine! I’ll send money to whoever is running against him, I don’t care if it’s a blonde transsexual named Micheline-Vivienne who works the Caesar’s Palace Baccarat room as a honey-shill and collects old TV Guides; I’ll donate.

Slightly O/T but a good (and smart) rant given the turn of the day, read Vanderleun on the Googlerands.

Bookworm says: progressives are regressive

Laura Lee Donoho brings a mind-clearing story to light.

The Perpetual Adolescents

Previous Post

September 25, 2008

Harry Reid: Most shameful fella

Next Post

September 25, 2008 Press: Lord Obama says "more work needed"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the biblical measurement of a cubit represent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Length of forearm Length of hand Length of foot Length of leg