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Show Vicabiliiy off syn-vuels program to be proved! wiih oil shale planv lt H.-lfiio I-. M.nl.'i Uiual Kpi.s WKhmii'"1" House Democratic ,;r j,;n Wnuht. D lVx . and nine rHoi.s' colleagues in both parlies ;t-liim' "u vt'''m,u'm's s-vn-.ktirO'T.im is a modHiod success, ""'h tlu f'sl 0,1 s,wl P'""U :oi"t! '"oomm-uil piHtiH-Hon .n August. so don't tinker with it. they have iU1 in a '-r colleague" letter sent v-oiiJuneH-uisa" unusual "dear :'iou;ue'' letter in that it isn't plug- 'omesort of legislation. Instead, fi'itacivisi "S llouso I1UMllbors not t0 'sh'the I'- s Synthetic Fuels Corp. Ter the brink into extinction. mons: the two co-signers of the lot-,er lot-,er with Wright are Reps. Kay Koiovsek. DOolo., and Byron Pursan. D-N. Dak., who have soon an-fuels projects come to fruition in iMr districts. They are the I'nion Oil Co oil shale plant at Parachute Crook I, western Colorado, w hich, according to the Wright et al letter, "will start nroducins 10.000 barrels a day of synthetic syn-thetic fuel this August" as "the nation's na-tion's first commercial oil shale unt." and the North American Coal usification venture in Mercer County. Coun-ty. X. Dak., which "will start up next ear" as "the nation's first coal jisification plant." The Union Oil Shale project is in jcwl shape because it w ill be selling Us shale oil to the military lor a guaranteed price. Hut the North Dakota gasilicalion protect is in financial finan-cial ditticuliics, and its private industry in-dustry leadership - it is operated by a consortium - has publicly stated that it w ill need more money from the Synthetic Syn-thetic Fuels Corp to keep operating. Hut the Wright et al letter was not written with the specific health of various projects m mind, although it was surprisingly upbeat about syn-fuels. syn-fuels. given the widespread belief here that syn-fuels have fallen into the doldrums. "Several other pioneer projects pro-jects have equity assembled and are awaiting approval by the Synthetic Fuels Corp. We are about to see the first results ol our collective efforts, and this is gratifying. Much more needs to be done in the nine years remaining re-maining in the program" which created the Syn-fuels government subsidy sub-sidy program in 19X0 through the passage of the Energy Security Act. the Wright et al letter stated. Those w ho signed the letter in addition addi-tion to Wright, Kogovsek and Dorgan were Reps. Stewart McKinney, R-Conn R-Conn . Ralph Regula, R-Ohio. Don Fugua. D-Fla.. Joseph McDade. R-Pa R-Pa . John Murtha. D-Pa., John J. LaFalce. D-N.Y., and Ed. Jenkins, D-Ga D-Ga All have been interested in syn-fuels syn-fuels for some time. Rep. Dan Marriott. R-l'tah. die principal prin-cipal sponsor of an oil shale leasing bill which, he told this correspondent recently, he planned to have the House Interior Committee take up for consideration con-sideration this month, did not sign the letter. No action is planned on any legislation legisla-tion from the House Mining Subcommittee Sub-committee in the parent Interior Committee Com-mittee this month, a committee source told (his correspondent on June 17. It's unlikely that Marriott will push a long-term long-term oil shale leasing bill at this time when the Congress and Interior Secretary James G. Watt are squaring squar-ing oil over the federal coal leasing program, committee sources said. Kogovsek said the letter was spearheaded by Wright because there "have been a spate of bills introduced introduc-ed to alxilish the Synfuols corporation. A new one was just introduced by ( Rep ) Bruce Morrison (D-Conn ," Kogovsek told this correspondent in-an in-an interview on June 16. "We thought it was a good time to call attention to the long-term benefits of the syn-fuels program," Kogovsek stated. This is not the time to put the w hole syn-fuels program on ice, when no one knows what the future holds in energy supply, Kogovsek stated. The Wright et al letter pointed out that, for the first time in many years under Wright's leadership the Congress Con-gress in 1980 passed the 1980 Energy Security Act w ith a view to providing some options to the country in alternative alter-native sources of energy supply and synfuels, including "authorizing important im-portant initiatives in alcohol fuels. somr energy, geolhermal energy, renewable energy, and. most esccial-ly esccial-ly synthetic fuels. It was the most significant program ever enacted to move this nation toward energy independence," in-dependence," it stated. But recently there have been a number of moves in Congress, including in-cluding by Sen. William L. Armstrong, K-Colo.. and Hep. Hank Brown, H-Colo.. H-Colo.. to "repeal'' this program "before it has had a chance to get off the ground." This is "an example of short-term thinking," the Wright et al letter states, in light of declining domestic oil reserves, a trend, once again, toward this country's increasing increas-ing dependence on foreign oil. and the fact that some of the government funded fund-ed projects in the syn-fuels field are now coming on line. This is no time to rock the boat, the letter concludes. "Much more needs to be done in the nine years remaining in the program" authorized by the 1!)H0 act. In urging the Congress to continue to hang in on the syn-fuels program, the Wright et al letter writers include a letter from Rep. Philip K. Sharp, D-Ind., D-Ind., of the Synthetic Fuels Subcommittee Subcom-mittee of the House Energy Committee Commit-tee calling the government syn-fuels program "an insurance policy" in the national interest. Sharp also states in his letter to the Editors of the Wall Street Journal that he plans to hold a series of hearings on syn-fuels later this year. The Sharp letter was written writ-ten on May 17. |
