Corruption's good reason to stall oil-drilling debate
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9/11/2008 - 9/12/08
Some brakes are being applied to the Bush Oil Rush — to the chagrin of Republicans and even a few Democrats anxious to show November voters how anxious they are to Drill, Baby, Drill!
That was the cry at the GOP convention as John McCain vowed to open America's wildlands and territorial waters to oil rigs. And it's the chant of Republican senatorial candidate Steve Pearce against Democrat Tom Udall — who doesn't rule out fossil fuels, but who wants a comprehensive energy strategy strong on alternative sources.
Bogus baying about "ending dependence on foreign oil" is about all the politically bankrupt party of the president has to offfer the families of this nation it has done so much to ruin. But the elephants have made donkeys nervous enough to work on energy legislation since Congress reconvened after Labor Day.
But what's this? A sex-and-drugs-and-drilling-and-ethics scandal! In the part of the Bush Interior Department that issues offshore drilling leases and collects royalties for the government — from Big Oil!
Looks as if a bunch of Minerals Management Service officials are on the take from those oil companies behind a desperate, end-of-the-administration push for further drilling.
Cozy consulting contracts for Interior officials still on the federal payroll as well as those on their way out the governmental door. Ski trips, professional-sports seats, golf, wining and dining, courtesy of companies getting special treatment. Cocaine and sex, too; what more might a public-servant-on-the-make desire?
These are just the latest accusations to emerge from an investigation into an agency whose competence and honesty were already under scrutiny for failure to collect millions of dollars owed to the nation.
"A cultural of ethical failure" pervades the service, said Interior's Inspector General. And that was only the beginning of his expression of disgust.
The agency's director, an old Dick Cheney flunky, mumbles about considering action in the months to come, presumably when he's working elsewhere. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne at least pronounced himself "outraged."
New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was his usual restrained self. Beneath furrowed brows, he said the report "raises very serious questions," and said basic reforms in the royalty-in-kind program should be included in any new drilling legislation.
Bingaman favors some drilling way out in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but is wary about opening the Eastern Seaboard to rigs, and especiallly opposes the notion of coastal states being the only beneficiaries of oil revenue from offshore drilling.
But Bingaman has colleagues opposed to expansion of drilling out in the Gulf — notably Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a fellow Democrat.
"This is why we must not allow Big Oil's agenda to be jammed through Congress," says Nelson.
Another Senate Democrat, Charles Schumer, leads the committee that first uncovered the oil-office corruption.
The report, says Schumer, "has it all — sex, drugs and the Bush administration officials once again in cahoots with Big Oil."
The Senate next week was expected to take up several drilling proposals. But now Democrats have an excuse to go along with good reason for stalling it until the Bush administration is gone. Their constituents should agree that the rush is unseemly — especially when it would be administered by appointees under a shadow the color of crude oil.
