©2025 League of Conservation Voters
2012 Scorecard Vote
160
265
7
Issues
Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) offered an amendment to H.R. 3408-the so-called PIONEERS Act that was a part of the House transportation package-which would remove oil shale leasing provisions from the bill that would endanger Western public lands and water supplies while doing nothing to fund transportation projects or create jobs. Oil shale, not to be confused with shale oil, has yet to be produced in commercial quantities despite 100 years of research and development and decades of taxpayer subsidies. Oil shale is sedimentary rock that must be heated to 700 degrees to produce any fuel, and industrial-scale oil shale development would require more water than the scarce water supplies in the West could provide. The Polis amendment would prevent lands proposed for wilderness protections, critical wildlife habitat, and areas popular with hunters and anglers from being subjected to this risky and speculative development. On February 15, the House rejected the Polis amendment by a vote of 160-265 (House roll call vote 59). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The provisions in H.R. 3408 were not included in the compromise transportation bill-H.R. 4348, MAP-21-which President Obama signed into law on July 6.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters