The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would open up to two million acres of western public land for oil shale.

For over a century, industry has tried to produce commercial oil from shale with no success, but those research projects have ruined air, water, and land resources. But there’s no oil in oil shale – it’s a rock.

Ironically, some in Congress want to fund repairs to our crumbling transportation infrastructure with oil shale revenue, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the oil shale provisions would generate ZERO revenue between 2012 and 2022.

I applaud Congressman Dave Reichert for taking a stand for our quality of life in the West by voting against the bill and for an amendment that would have stripped provisions for oil shale speculation.

While oil shale deposits aren’t in Washington state, as a taxpayer I do not want to subsidize an unproven technology that opens up our public lands to development. Should commercial oil shale ever be achieved, it could produce 23 to 73 percent more global warming pollution than conventional oil.

I am disappointed that Congress passed this bill, but I am grateful to Rep. Reichert for continuing to make the right choices for our land, climate, and economy.

Loretta Jancoski, Ph.D., Issaquah