Justice Dept Official Asks Energy Industry to Help Against Lawsuits

[kainah]

Feds to energy: Help fight these lawsuits
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A Justice Department official asked the energy industry for help in battling a record number of lawsuits, most of them environmental challenges of oil and gas drilling on public land.

About 7,100 cases are being litigated by the department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said Thomas Sansonetti, an assistant attorney general of the Justice Department. More than two-thirds of the cases originated west of the Mississippi River, most of them in the Rockies.

"When these lawsuits come up, when they sue the federal agencies like EPA or BLM, intervene if possible," Sansonetti told executives at the Independent Petroleum Association of America conference Monday. "The fact is, we need help. Sometimes, two or three of our attorneys are matched up against entire law firms."

more...

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/06/16/news/wyoming/12d3840e827b7e3187256eb40076b1d8.txt

As someone who's involved in environmental issues in Wyoming -- where Sansonetti is from -- I find this to be one of the most outrageous stories I've read in a very long time. Even more outrageous is the fact that this story is currently being picked up only in Casper, WY; Boulder, CO; Denver, CO; and Anchorage, AK. The rest of the West is silent, as is the rest of the country. This should be a major, major, major scandal.

My only giggle is knowing that a group I'm involved with is meeting with the ACLU next Wednesday about litigation possibilities.

[NJCher]

1. I, too, am outraged!

This ranks right up there with the Labor Department conducting seminars on how to get out of paying employees overtime.

And Bush promising India that he would keep the jobs coming.

If there was ever any doubt that our government is in the hands of big corporations, this is the story that shows it!


Cher

[kainah]

2. and now they've pulled the story

and replaced it with a very heavily edited, minimalist story. And it STILL is not being picked up anywhere.

[dusty64]

3. More evidence of government

BY the corporations For the corporations. Washington needs a VERY large enema.