There’s a tricky situation that the US is about to face. On one hand, a ‘green’ president who champions renewable energy is about to take office. On the other, at least a century old oil reserves are sitting beneath the Rockies. This can be quite a dilemma since the US remains to be the top oil guzzler in the world. Not to mention that the thing they most need is just lying in their home, with no need for a war or an invasion to get.

Of course, the oil is not as readily usable as that in the Middle East since the oil shale is not immediately capable for refinery. What lies underneath Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are sediments that contain ‘kerogen,’ a hydrocarbon. Just add heat or chemicals and it will turn into synthetic oil. Will Obama take up Bush on the challenge to extract and process this?

Peak oil is like a sword that hangs over this planet’s head. That is, if we are to believe the propagandists of peak oil. Obama must truly be in a quandary because this oil shale is said to be able to produce 800 billion barrels of oil. Estimates peg that as equivalent to “three Saudi Arabias.” But Obama is already set on his renewable energy campaign, and planning to spend $150 billion for it. The question now is one of expediency. Will a ‘green’ president go with what’s easy and available or win the war on fossil fuel dependence?

Image

Via Yahoo! News