GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Oil shale has never made an American company more than a nickel or two; quite a few, in fact, have lost countless millions over the last century trying to cook oil out of the rock. R. Glenn Vawter, who has worked as an executive for many of the losers, knows all that only too well. [R. Glenn Vawter, manager of oil shale projects for EGL Resources, in Colorado, where the Bush administration has spurred new development.] Oil shale’s many starts and stops have driven Mr. Vawter’s career but have also unsettled his family life, forcing 37...