News release: “Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today took steps to help the country develop technologies that could potentially unlock the nation’s oil shale reserves while protecting taxpayers, water resources, the environment, and local communities. Pledging to reform the nation’s oil shale program, Salazar announced that the Department of the Interior is offering additional opportunities for energy companies to conduct oil shale research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects on public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. In addition, Salazar has asked the Department’s Inspector General to investigate a set of lease addenda that the previous administration entered into with the holders of six existing RD&D leases on January 15, 2009.”