The President is busy touting the merits of oil shale, but does reality match the hype?

More on that in a moment on the Face The State Radio Minute.

President George W. Bush says oil shale, a kind of rock that produces the black stuff when exposed to heat, can help free the country from high gas prices. Colorado is home to huge amounts of this resource – if we can tap into it.

Shell Oil Company has been researching the technology to do just that at a sprawling research station on the Western Slope. Prohibitive costs – and a federal ban – have so far held back oil shale drilling on public lands. It will soon be economically feasible to tap Colorado reserves.

A federal ban on drilling only serves to keep investment away from much-needed technologies. It makes sense to open federal lands to leasing. Energy companies aren’t charities, and as Shell demonstrates they’re willing to invest millions in hopes of drilling in a profitable fashion. But they’ll never be able to do so if Congress continues to stand in the way.

For FaceTheState.com, I’m Brad Jones.