luthi, r

=<div>4/17</div><div>
</div><div>sue s fac so:Last week U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that President Trump plans to issue an executive order expanding offshore drilling in areas now off limits, including the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Arctic. Trump's order <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-06/trump-said-to-ready-order-to-expand-oil-drilling-in-u-s-waters" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: none;">would amend</a> the Obama administration's five-year drilling plan that excluded lease auctions in those areas through 2022. It would also open the door to reversing President Obama's <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2016/12/obamas-permanent-atlantic-drilling-ban-excludes-most-southeast-coast" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: none;">decision to permanently withdraw</a> most of the U.S. Arctic and an area of the Atlantic stretching from New England to the Maryland-Virginia border from the federal offshore leasing program — an effort that environmentalists <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2016/12/prospects-permanent-ban-atlantic-oil-and-gas-drilling" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: none;">think</a> would be ultimately unsuccessful due to how laws governing offshore drilling are written. Although the decision could affect thousands of square miles of ocean waters, the Trump administration's offshore drilling plans weren't announced at a press conference or other public setting. Instead, Secretary Zinke, a former Montana congressman who <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/ryan-zinke" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">earned low marks</a> for his environmental record during his two-year tenure in the U.S. House, unveiled the proposal at a closed-door meeting of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) in Washington, D.C. His remarks were <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-06/trump-said-to-ready-order-to-expand-oil-drilling-in-u-s-waters" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">reported by Bloomberg</a>, who spoke to three attendees on condition of anonymity. So what is NOIA, and how did it come to have such clout? Launched by oil giant Exxon in the 1970s, NOIA is a trade association that advocates for the offshore drilling industry. Its <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.noia.org/members-2/2015-noia-membership-list-by-industry-segment/" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">300 member companies</a> include oil and gas "supermajors" like BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Shell, as well as drilling contractors, seismic testing firms and shipbuilders. The group also includes banking and investment firms that serve the industry such as Capital One, Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo Energy Group. NOIA's CEO is Randall Luthi, a former Wyoming state lawmaker and aide to Dick Cheney when the former vice president served in Congress. Luthi (in photo) served in the Department of Interior under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and as deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under George W. Bush. According to the most recent publicly available <a rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: none;">NOIA tax filing</a>, NOIA has an annual budget of over $3 million and pays Luthi over $600,000. From mid-2007 to late 2009, Luthi served as head of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), which was reorganized after BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster due to conflict-of-interest and oversight issues. During his tenure, the agency was<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">embroiled in an ethics scandal</a> involving allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct. The wrongdoing reportedly occurred between 2002 and 2006, before Luthi came to the agency, and Luthi has said MMS requested an investigation by the agency's inspector general after receiving whistle-blower complaints in the spring of 2006. But Luthi was the central figure in another controversy over the revolving door between MMS and the oil and gas industry, an issue that drew criticism from public interest groups for many years. Just over a year after leaving his post at the regulatory agency, Luthi became president of NOIA and began advocating for the industry's interests with the agency he used to lead. In 2010 testimony before a U.S. House committee, the watchdog Project on Government Oversight (POGO) called Luthi's move to NOIA "the most egregious example" of the MMS revolving-door problem. "When the director of MMS joins a trade association whose explicit mission was to secure a 'favorable regulatory and economic environment for the companies that develop the nation's valuable offshore energy resources,' taxpayers have to question whose interests were actually being served when he was at MMS," <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20100722Brian.pdf" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">said</a> POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. "In the case of Mr. Luthi — who joined the trade association approximately 14 months after leaving MMS — it's unclear whether he was always ideologically opposed to the agency's mission." NOIA's strategic campaign giving In 2011, the governors of Southern states launched <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2015/04/drive-to-drill-energy-lobbyists-behind-governors-c" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">an initiative to expand offshore drilling</a> in Atlantic waters. The Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition, which was led by former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, was administered behind the scenes by <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/sites/default/files/images/article/cea_hbw_ocsgc_connections_chart.jpg" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">a front group</a> for oil and gas industry lobbyists called the Consumer Energy Alliance, of which <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://consumerenergyalliance.org/about/our-members/" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">NOIA is a member</a>. Since then, NOIA has spent $279,000 lobbying Congress, the Department of the Interior, the Commerce Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.opensecrets.org/" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">OpenSecrets.org database</a>. A political action committee tied to NOIA has also spent over $700,000 since 2011 supporting the campaigns of key members of Congress. Among the top beneficiaries of the NOIA PAC were representatives from Southeastern states where the industry is pushing for seismic testing for oil and gas reserves, and eventually offshore drilling: * In the 2016 election cycle, NOIA's PAC was a top contributor to lawmakers including Reps. Scott Rigell of Virginia, Richard Hudson and David Rouzer of North Carolina, and Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, according to OpenSecrets.org. Rigell left office in January after deciding not to run for re-election. * In the 2014 cycle, NOIA's PAC was a top contributor to Reps. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina (now Trump's budget director), and John Mica and Steve Southerland of Florida. During this election cycle the energy industry PAC was also a top contributor to U.S. Sen.Tim Scott of South Carolina. * In the 2012 cycle, NOIA's PAC was a top contributor to Reps. Rob Wittman of Virginia and Florida's Tom Rooney and Connie Mack, who has since left office to become a lobbyist. Other members of Congress receiving donations from the NOIA PAC during those election cycles were Reps. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia; Patrick McHenry andRobert Pittenger of North Carolina; Jim Clyburn, Trey Gowdy, Tom Rice, Mark Sanford and Joe Wilson of South Carolina; Sanford Bishop of Georgia; and Carlos Curbelo, Bill Posey and Dennis Ross of Florida. Beneficiaries also included former Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia, Renee Ellmers of North Carolina and Georgia's John Barrow, Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Tom Price, who's now Trump's secretary of Health and Human Services. On the Senate side, additional recipients of NOIA PAC contributions during the past three key election cycles included Richard Burr and Thom Tillis of North Carolina,Marco Rubio of Florida and David Perdue of Georgia. NOIA also contributed to the unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign of George Allen of Virginia and to the campaign of former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who resigned in 2013 to serve as president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. All of those lawmakers are Republicans except for Reps. Clyburn of South Carolina and Barrow and Bishop of Georgia. NOIA's political donations overwhelmingly favor Republicans; in the 2016 election cycle, for example, 95 percent of its contributions went to GOP candidates, according to OpenSecrets.org. NOIA's political giving will help position it in what's sure to be a pitched political battle over any Trump administration efforts to open the Atlantic to drilling. The push to allow oil and gas exploration in the region under the Obama administration<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2015/08/drive-to-drill-the-growing-resistance-to-atlantic" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">sparked an uprising</a> by Atlantic Coast residents and their representatives concerned about the impact on local economies dependent on tourism and fishing, and ultimately led the Obama administration to cancel plans to open the area to drilling. To date, more than 120 East Coast municipalities, over 1,200 elected officials and an alliance representing over 35,000 businesses and 500,000 fishing families <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://usa.oceana.org/climate-and-energy/grassroots-opposition-atlantic-drilling-and-seismic-airgun-blasting" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: none;">have publicly opposed</a> offshore drilling and/or seismic testing in the Atlantic. They include NOIA political beneficiaries Reps. Sanford of South Carolina and Posey of Florida, showing that getting money from the organization does not necessarily translate into supporting its agenda.</div><div></div><div>nyt<div>
</div><div>-- Randall Luthi, of  Freedom, is a former speaker of the Wyoming House and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson. He succeeded Burton as MMS director.  Luthi left his Minerals Management position when President Obama took office in January 2009. A little over a year later, Luthi was named president of the National Ocean Industries Association, the main industry trade group for the offshore oil and gas industry. (Luthi testified May 27 before the House Natural Resources committee investigating the Gulf of Mexico disaster. (<a href="http://wyofile.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/hearing_transcript_2010_5_27.pdf">Complete hearing transcript - PDF.</a>)  Several of the companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster are members of Luthi’s association. One of the National Ocean Industries’ stated missions: reduce federal regulatory controls. More about Luthi <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2010/6/7/93217/69114/122#c122">here</a> (be sure to click through the links; the <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-21/bp-legal-case-for-oil-spill-cousins-randall-luthi-and-jeffery-luthi-at-crossroads-of-litigation-decision/full/">Daily Beast article</a> is a doozy!)</div><div>
</div><div><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/05/21/bp-legal-case-for-oil-spill-cousins-randall-luthi-and-jeffery-luthi-at-crossroads-of-litigation-decision.html">http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/05/21/bp-legal-case-for-oil-spill-cousins-randall-luthi-and-jeffery-luthi-at-crossroads-of-litigation-decision.html</a></div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Randall Luthi</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2007)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Director, DOI Mineral Management Service (2007-2009)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">• Career goes back 30 years with Dick Cheney.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">• Oversaw MMS while it was mired in drug and sex scandals.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">• Now runs NOIA, an offshore drilling industry group.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>Randall Luthi served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until being moved to the DOI’s Mineral Management Service (MMS) , where he worked from 2007 to the end of the Bush administration. While Luthi headed MMS, the department was involved in a deep ethics scandal that “[included] allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.” Luthi is a close ally of Dick Cheney – his career goes back 30 years to when he interned for the former Vice President in 1982. Luthi is currently president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an oil industry group whose goal is to “secure reliable access and a favorable regulatory and economic environment.” Following the BP oil spill, the former MMS director’s organization stood in opposition of raising liability caps on the offshore industry.</div></div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>wiki</div><div>Randall B. Luthi (born 1955) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawyer" title="Lawyer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">attorney</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancher" title="Rancher" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">rancher</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom,Wyoming" title="Freedom, Wyoming" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Freedom</a>, in northwestern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_County,Wyoming" title="Lincoln County, Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Lincoln County</a> in western <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming" title="Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Wyoming</a>, who served as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Republican</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_House_of_Representatives" title="Wyoming House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Wyoming House of Representatives</a> from 1995—2007. He was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker(politics)" title="Speaker (politics)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Speaker</a> for his last two-year term, 2005—2007. Prior to 2005, he had been the House Majority Leader. In Wyoming, Speakers traditionally retire from the House upon the expiration of their tenure as presiding officer. Luthi was thereafter named by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior" title="United States Secretary of the Interior" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Interior Secretary</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Kempthorne" title="Dirk Kempthorne" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Dirk Kempthorne</a> as the Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals_Management_Service" title="Minerals Management Service" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Minerals Management Service</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a>Luthi formerly served in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior" title="United States Department of the Interior" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">United States Department of the Interior</a> during the administration of Presidents <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_W.Reagan" title="Ronald W. Reagan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ronald W. Reagan</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert_Walker_Bush" title="George Herbert Walker Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">George Herbert Walker Bush</a>. The first Bush transferred him to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration" title="National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. Since 2000, Luthi has been a partner in the Luthi and Voyles law firm in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thayne,Wyoming" title="Thayne, Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Thayne</a>. Since 1993, he has also been a managing partner of the JE Luthi Ranch, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_cattle" title="Beef cattle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">beef cattle</a> operation in Lincoln County. From 1990—1993, he served in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,D.C." title="Washington, D.C." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Washington, D.C.</a>, in career positions as Senior Counselor for Environmental Regulations in NOAA's Office of General Counsel. Earlier, he was an attorney in the Interior Department Office of the Solicitor from 1986—1990. In 2007, President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">George W. Bush</a> named Luthi Deputy Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Fish_and_Wildlife_Service" title="United States Fish and Wildlife Service" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">United States Fish and Wildlife Service</a>. On July 23, 2007, the administration appointed him head of the Minerals Management Services where he remained until January, 2009.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-mms-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a>On March 1, 2010, Luthi became president of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Ocean_Industries_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="National Ocean Industries Association (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">National Ocean Industries Association</a> (NOIA),<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a> a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,D.C." title="Washington, D.C." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Washington, D.C.</a> based <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee" title="Political action committee" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">political action committee</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a> representing "the companies that develop the nation’s valuable offshore energy resources."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a> The movement of Minerals Management Service officials to NOIA has been controversial.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a> As NOIA president, Luthi wrote to the acting director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals_Management_Service" title="Minerals Management Service" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Minerals Management Service</a> on June 7, 2010, advocating rapid clarification of offshore drilling rules<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[7]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a> because "it is not a time for a lengthy and undefined ban or suspension on all drilling."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[9]</a>Luthi is considered an authority on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalties" title="Royalties" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">royalties</a> paid to the U.S. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government" title="Government" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">government</a> by companies which produce energy from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain" title="Public domain" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">public domain</a>, both on land and water. From his legislative service, Luthi was instrumental in the formulation of state budgets which relied heavily upon royalties and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severance_tax" title="Severance tax" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">severance taxes</a> paid by energy companies operating on federal leases. He was also a legislative member of the Energy Council, an organization of legislative representatives from energy-producing states and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" title="Canada" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Canadian</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province" title="Province" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">provinces</a> and private energy-related industries. The council meets quarterly to consider the latest developments in energy matters.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-mms-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a>Luthi formerly worked as a legislative assistant in the office of former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Senator" title="U.S. Senator" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">U.S. Senator</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_K.Simpson" title="Alan K. Simpson" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Alan K. Simpson</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody,Wyoming" title="Cody, Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Cody</a>. He provided counsel on legal and legislative issues including<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil" title="Oil" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">oil</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas" title="Natural gas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">natural gas</a> taxation. He later transferred to the office of then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Representative" title="U.S. Representative" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">U.S. Representative</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney" title="Dick Cheney" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Richard B. Cheney</a> of Wyoming, later <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Vice President of the United States</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-mms-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a>Luthi received a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_science" title="Bachelor of science" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">bachelor of science</a> degree in law enforcement in 1979 from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wyoming" title="University of Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">University of Wyoming</a> at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laramie,Wyoming" title="Laramie, Wyoming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Laramie</a>. He procured his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor" title="Juris Doctor" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Juris Doctor</a> law degree from UW in 1982.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-mms-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a>In June 2007, upon the death of U.S. Senator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_L.Thomas" title="Craig L. Thomas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Craig Thomas</a>, Luthi was among thirty applicants for appointment to fill the vacancy until a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_election" title="Special election" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">special election</a> is held on November 4, 2008. Luthi was not chosen by the Republican State Central Committee as one of the three finalists to be considered for appointment by the state's governor,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Democrat</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Freudenthal" title="Dave Freudenthal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Dave Freudenthal</a>. Luthi tied for fifth place on the second ballot and lost a tie-breaking vote.In September 2008, Democratic Senator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nelson" title="Bill Nelson" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bill Nelson</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Florida</a> called upon Luthi to resign from the Minerals Management Service because of a sex, drug, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil" title="Oil" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">oil</a> scandal at the service that occurred between 2002 and 2006, before Luthi became director.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Luthi#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[10]</a></div><div></div><div>dkos</div><div>
</div><div><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-21/bp-legal-case-for-oil-spill-cousins-randall-luthi-and-jeffery-luthi-at-crossroads-of-litigation-decision/full/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Will BP get its oil spill case moved to friendly Houston? A clerk of the panel that will decide the issue is first cousins with a former regulator of the sunken BP drill platform.</a> (emphasis added);<blockquote style="margin: 12px; padding: 8px 16px; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-top-style: solid; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); background: rgb(246, 243, 236);">The battle over where the cases against BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and other defendants will be tried has significant impact over how the cases will proceed and their final outcomes.BP wants them all moved to Houston, Texas. Its attorneys are arguing that BP Exploration and Production, Inc. and the other defendants maintain their principal places of business and their key documents and witnesses within the Houston area, according to court documents: "Transfer and consolidation of this litigation in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, would greatly promote the just and expeditious resolution of these actions."The plaintiffs’ attorneys, who represent the commercial fishermen, shrimpers, and others affected by the BP oil spill, argue in the response they filed with the court that the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans is "closer to the epicenter of this disaster than Texas, Florida, or the other Gulf States, and it is the geographical focal point." Pertinent witnesses are in Louisiana, including claimants and potential claimants, key eyewitnesses to the incident, and investigators, including representatives of Mineral Management Service (MMS) and the Coast Guard.Jeffery Luthi, 56, as clerk of the panel of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), has significant influence over the final decision.</blockquote>The article goes on to explore the background of Luthi and his cousin, Randall Luthi, who:<blockquote style="margin: 12px; padding: 8px 16px; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-top-style: solid; color: rgb(36, 36, 36); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">will most likely be a key witness in the lawsuits and in the congressional hearings on whether MMS, the agency that regulated Deepwater Horizon and that he led under the Bush administration, improperly awarded safety certificates to BP and Transocean.The former director of MMS, Randall Luthi, 54, is now president of National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), a national trade association that, according to its website, represents "all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf." [Side note: Luthi "<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/10/93859/us-agency-lets-oil-industry-write.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">promised to deliver 'policies favorable to the offshore energy industry'</a>" in his new role.]As MMS director in September 2008, he defended the agency against charges by the DOI inspector general of a "culture of substance abuse, promiscuity, and ethical failure" existing inside MMS... All the abuses found by investigators occurred before Randall Luthi took office, but he spent the last four months of his tenure fighting off calls for his resignation.Randall Luthi once worked for Dick Cheney and, according to his MMS bio, served on Cheney’s Energy Council, an organization composed of legislative representatives from energy-producing states and private energy-related industries that set the energy policies of the Bush administration.BP; Halliburton, the company responsible for cementing the deepwater drill hole at the site; and Cameron International, the company that built the safety valves for the rig, have seats on board of NOIA, the trade organization led by Randall Luthi.Jeffery Luthi handles the docket of the JPML, which has the authority to determine whether civil actions pending in two or more federal judicial districts should be transferred to a single federal district court for pretrial proceeding.He is dealing with the BP motion to combine all the civil lawsuits involving Deepwater Horizon and the oil spill into a federal court in Houston, Texas. The decision will be made by the JPML at its July session in Boise, Idaho.</blockquote></div><div></div></div>