Perhaps it’s too much to expect that senators from other states would pay attention to what is actually happening in the oil shale world today as they blather about increasing U.S. oil production. But we had hopes that Colorado’s own Sen. Wayne Allard would know the score.

Apparently not.

In joining other Republican senators backing legislation to speed up leasing of federal lands for commercial oil shale development, Allard seems oblivious to this fact: Both the Bureau of Land Management and industry leaders on oil shale have said commercial development of oil shale won’t happen until well into the next decade — if it occurs at all.

Furthermore, work on the research and development leases approved by the BLM two years ago is far from complete. No one is certain yet whether new oil-shale technology being developed is even viable.

Also, critical questions remain about how much water will be needed for commercial oil shale industry. Water experts in Colorado dispute assumptions made by the BLM regarding water.

There is no need to accelerate leasing of federal land for commercial oil shale production. The notion that the one-year moratorium on commercial leasing approved by Congress last year is somehow a barrier to commercial development is nonsense. If anything, that moratorium should be extended.

The real barriers to commercial oil shale production are technological, environmental and financial.

Sen. Ken Salazar understood that when he pushed for the moratorium last year.

Allard either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care.