Oil shale is a term used to describe a variety of sedimentary rocks that will ignite when exposed to enough heat.

"What Every Westerner Should Know About Oil Shale" comes as Colorado prepares for what looks like another oil shale development cycle.

Patty Limerick is the Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at CU-Boulder.

The report's intent is "to provide a safe port in the storm of data disputes that usually rage on topics like this. We want to encourage a more responsible, more informed and more productive decision-making process," Hanson said.

In the report, the center takes no position either for or against oil shale production. Hanson noted that the project grew out of a Chevron-funded workshop, and that people involved in its preparation on all sides of the debate have praised its nonpartisan approach.

The world's largest supplies of oil shale, a layer of sedimentary rock that companies compress and refine into petroleum, lie trapped beneath the western slope of the Rockies in parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Colorado's last oil shale boom-and-bust cycle occurred in the early 1980s.

Opponents of the process, which by some estimates will require massive amounts of water and energy, are concerned about environmental degradation. Supporters believe oil shale drilling is needed to bulk up the nation's supply of domestic energy resources as the world continues to deplete oil supplies.