My recollection from the Clinton era sequester of the Grand Staircase monument was that the primary resource being cut off was a terrific coal reserve. It doesn’t take much beyond a truck and a shovel to exploit those, so I was never expecting a “shale boom” out of there, but rather an expansion of mining.
That is my recollection too.
I don’t really understand the article, because it sounds like the wells that were drilled were standard wells. Sounds to me like most of the oil is trapped in the shale, so they need to come in and frack. That’s when the boom starts.
Sinkmaster and hitlery did this for a political (obviously) reason. It was because the second largest deposit of hard coal was in Indonesia, and he promised to close off the Escalante area to leave Indonesia the virtual sole producer. I’ve been to Escalante area. The Grand Staircase is the only thing of any real note. The rest is just miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.
***a terrific coal reserve***
Back in the 1970s, two mine-mouth power plants were planned for the area.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there were several attempts to find ways to release the oil from oil shale. This was in Western Colorado. I believe they eventually gave up. If the energy is really needed, a way will be found.