Big Oil & Conflicts of Interest: Obama Owns This Mess

[IndianaGreen]

There was a time that the Obama administration could say it inherited a mess. But now, having approved hundreds of drilling and seismic blasting plans without full environmental reviews, according to the New York Times, it owns this mess.

Published on Saturday, May 22, 2010 by the Boston Globe

Big Oil & Conflicts of Interest: Obama Owns This Mess

Troubled chickens come home to roost

by Derrick Z. Jackson

INTERIOR SECRETARY Ken Salazar and President Obama say they will split up the Minerals Management Service to separate the arm that inspects and investigates the oil industry from the arm that last year collected $13 billion in royalties and fees from the industry. Both Obama and Salazar say this will ensure "there is no conflict, real or perceived.''

Splitting the agency means nothing unless Obama and Salazar revamp the culture of this lazy, conflict-ridden agency that in some years, according to the Wall Street Journal, collects more money than any other federal agency except for the Internal Revenue Service. While the IRS is the subject of national ire every April 15, the minerals agency dutifully conducted its business in unseen labyrinths until BP's deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion and gargantuan oil spill in the Gulf. One of the tragedies is that the Obama administration knew exactly what dysfunction it had on its hands entering office.

In 2006, the Interior Department's inspector general, responding to a Senate committee request and a New York Times report that the minerals agency had undercollected $700 million in gas royalties, said the agency "lacks reliable management information to adequately develop a compliance strategy, monitor progress, and assess results.'' In 2007, Interior inspector general Earl Devaney issued a report that found that the revenue management division of the minerals agency was "fraught with difficulties,'' including:

■ The bureau's conflicting roles and relationships with the energy industry disagreements.

■ A working environment in which poor communication or no communication compounded an already existing element of distrust.

■ A Band-Aid approach to holding together one of the federal government's largest revenue producing operations.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/22-7

[Kahuna]

1. Oh well! If Derrick Z. Jackson says so, it must be true.

:crazy:

[IndianaGreen]

2. Has Obama killed his reckless offshore drilling plan that he announced on March 31?

A simple Yes or No will suffice.

[Kahuna]

3. I don;t know. Neither do you or Mr. Jackson. Face it. For all these people

sitting around stating as fact what Obama does, or what he knows, you haven't a clue.

[MattSh]

6. Spoken just like a politician... n/t

[Kahuna]

7. Are you saying you, the OP, or the article author know what goes on in

Obama's mind or in the oval office? Spoken like a true clueless, fool.

[Hawkowl]

4. A political truism

Obama will not be able to blame this on Shrub, just like Shrub couldn't blame 9/11 on Clinton. Obama has been in office almost a year and a half. The oil has been gushing for over a month. He does own this because history will insist upon it. What he makes of it is up to him.

In this day of the Imperial Presidency, Obama has literally unchecked power--if he chooses to wield it. Presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Harry Truman and Teddy Roosevelt did whatever they thought best and then let the lawyers jibber jabber afterwards.

Obama seems to only want to jibber jabber constantly.

[JohnWxy]

5. offsore drilling policy has been pretty much the same for a few decades. Repubs for the most part

have pushed for virtually unrestricted, unregulated drilling. Opposition to off-shore drilling, or at least wanton, unregulated off-shore drilling has historically come mostly from the Democrats (though there are Dems who have been as gung-ho about off-shore drilling as any Republican, some from the state of Louisiana). Anytime Democrats expressed doubts, concerns or the desire for tighter regulatiion of Off-shore drilling, the Republicans invariably started screaming the Dems were 'tree-hugging' (well, I guess in this case it would be "dolphin hugging") environmentalists AND un-American to boot!

Here is the contributions from big oil and gas. Note that Big Oil and Gas spend their money where they know it will get the best return. They have contributed over the years, about 3 times as much to the Repubs as to the Dems:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=537584&mesg_id=537584


This occurred on Obama's watch, so by definition it's his problem. But let's get real here. As a country our policy was to embrace off-shore drilling - although there were those (Democrats mostly) who wanted it to be monitored and regulated.


Now, Obama appointed Ken Salazar Sec. of the Interior, in December 2009, with one certain task for him to accomplish - to clean of the MInerals Management Service (Salazar made a public statement at that time that that was a specific objective before him. In a January 29, 2009 press release referring to the scandal that was the MMS, Salazar stated:

“President Obama’s and my goal is to restore the public’s trust, to enact meaningful reform…to uphold the law, and to ensure that all of us — career public servants and political appointees — do our jobs with the highest level of integrity."


BP submitted it's drilling plan for the Deep Horizon, to MMS on March 10, 2009, about 40 days after that statement and Obama's inauguration. My guess is Obama was pretty busy about that time, as he had been since the days following his election in 2008. But the guy he appointed to be Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar, was appointed with the clear task placed before him (he wouldn't have made that press release if it hadn't have been) to clean up the MMS.

I'm just guessing here but I think Obama felt, he told the guy what he had to do, so did he feel it necessary to call him up and check on him a few weeks after he told him to release that statement?? I think, Obama felt this guy knew what his job was. NOw, was MMS approval of the BP's driling plan subject to review and approval by the Sec. of the Interior??.... do I have to answer that question???

Yes, Salazar was supposed to be cleaning up the MMS. Does that mean it could be done in three months? Does that mean he should have been double checking all the MMS's approvals? Look, let's say he planned on firing the top management at MMS. That can't be done in a few weeks or a couple of months. You have to search for qualified candidates and then make a selection. Did Salazar blow it? Well, maybe he was or maybe he wasn't going to 'blow-it', but this happended too quicly to even make a determination that Salazar was in the process of blowing it. Basically, the guy just walked throught the door of the building and it collapsed around him.


As it stands now, Obama said he is putting a hold on off-shore drilling until it can be determined if such drilling can be done without risking environmental catastrophe ... and even this act is getting flack from Repubs! Yes, this happened on Obama's watch but realistically, it happened to soon to realistically expect the new adminisrtation to have prevented it... unless, Salazar and Obama were super-heroes (lol).


And by the way, Most of the people Rasmussen polled don't think Obama "owns this mess"