Secret Energy Task Force

---task force head Joe Kelliher ask lobby Dana Contratto wish list il duce 17 API fill in the bl exec order becomes 13211 verbatim fed rel dir James Ford, dereg , no jud review p 17 !! [ = Halib Loophole?]  3/1 IF Engelhardt and fred palmer eo and VP peabody met lundquist, sec of eng S Abraham, b2 eco advisor Larry Lindsey; stock offer IPO coming; 3/16 task rept hype coal 3/21 321 IPO got 420$mil, 60 over predicted<div>
</div><div></div><div><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/indus.php?id=10910" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/indus.php?id=10910</a>[[dANA CHARLES CONTRATTO Dana Charles Contratto passed away of natural causes at his home on Long Beach Island, NJ on July 7, 2014. His three sons, Justin, Jordan and Travis, his grandson, Elias and Daune, his beloved wife of 41 years were all with him. Dana was born on June 21, 1947 in Peoria, Illinois to Jay and Dye Contratto. Dana grew up in Aurora, IL., with his kid sister, Lisa. As a youth he was a member of the Pike Street Pirates. A feared street-gang known for smoking cigarettes in tree houses and careening around the neighborhood cul-de-sacs on their bikes. Dana graduated from Aurora High School and went on to receive a B.S. from the University of Southern Illinois. In 1973 he received his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. While in law school he was editor-in-chief of the Urban Law Annual. Following law school, Dana moved to Washington D.C. with his wife, Daune. He clerked for Judge Edward Tamm the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit. In 1976 Dana entered private practice with Morgan, Lewis andBockius, then later with Jones Day before leaving to become a founding partner with Crowell and Moring, LLP where he headed the firm's Energy Group and International Dispute Resolution. During his 40-year legal career Dana had a diverse and expansive practice. He worked extensively as a lobbyist, lawyer and legal counsel around the globe and was widely respected by all in his field. More importantly, he was a dedicated father who never missed a game and an avid - and successful - fisherman. He is survived by his loving wife, Daune McDevitt, his three children Justin (Polixene) , Jordan and Travis (listed in order of height) his father, W.R. "Dye" Contratto, his sister, Lisa Dickinson, and his grandson, Elias Contratto. Notorious outlaw and straight-talker Dana Contratto has left us in peace. We will never quite be able to fill the void....]]
executive Order (E.O.) 13211 - Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use - was issued by President George W. Bush in 2001. It applies to any significant energy action as defined by the E.O. A significant energy action is one that promulgates, or is expected to lead to the promulgation of, a final rule that is:<ul source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" text-align="text-align" start="start" style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1); margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.5; padding-left: 3ch; color: rgb(27, 27, 27);"><li style="text-align: left; box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1); margin-bottom: 0.25em; max-width: unset;">a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866 and</li><li style="text-align: left; box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1); margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: unset;">likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution or use of energy or is designated by the Administrator of OMB/OIRA as a significant energy action.</li></ul><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" text-align="text-align" start="start" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1); line-height: 1.5; color: rgb(27, 27, 27);">For significant energy actions, the federal agency must prepare a Statement of Energy Effects and submit the Statement to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 94, 162); outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);">Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)</a> in the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 94, 162); outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);">Office of Management and Budget (OMB)</a>. The Statement, or a summary, must be included in the proposed and final rulemaking notices published by the agency. A Statement of Energy Effects includes information on any adverse effects on energy supply, distribution, or use, and reasonable alternatives to the action along with the expected effects of such alternatives on energy supply, distribution, or use.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; transition-duration: 200ms; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-box-shadow, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1); line-height: 1.5;"><span source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="color: rgb(27, 27, 27);">vs biden<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55829189" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">: </a><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55829189" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55829189</a>----</div>=rfk 2 huffpo
As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi's Gulf Coast, it's worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President Bush's iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.In March of 2001, just two days after EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman's strong statement affirming Bush's CO2 promise former RNC Chief Barbour responded with an urgent memo to the White House.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Barbour, who had served as RNC Chair and Bush campaign strategist, was now representing the president's major donors from the fossil fuel industry who had enlisted him to map a Bush energy policy that would be friendly to their interests. His credentials ensured the new administration's attention.The document, titled "Bush-Cheney Energy Policy & CO2," was addressed to Vice President Cheney, whose energy task force was then gearing up, and to several high-ranking officials with strong connections to energy and automotive concerns keenly interested in the carbon dioxide issue, including Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, White House chief of staff Andy Card and legislative liaison Nick Calio. Barbour pointedly omitted the names of Whitman and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, both of whom were on record supporting CO2 caps. Barbour's memo chided these administration insiders for trying to address global warming which Barbour dismissed as a radical fringe issue."A moment of truth is arriving," Barbour wrote, "in the form of a decision whether this Administration's policy will be to regulate and/or tax CO2 as a pollutant. The question is whether environmental policy still prevails over energy policy with Bush-Cheney, as it did with Clinton-Gore." He derided the idea of regulating CO2 as "eco-extremism," and chided them for allowing environmental concerns to "trump good energy policy, which the country has lacked for eight years."The memo had impact. "It was terse and highly effective, written for people without much time by a person who controls the purse strings for the Republican Party," said John Walke, a high-ranking air quality official in the Clinton administration.On March 13, Bush reversed his previous position, announcing he would not back a CO2 restriction using the language and rationale provided by Barbour. Echoing Barbour's memo, Bush said he opposed mandatory CO2 caps, due to "the incomplete state of scientific knowledge" about global climate change.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Well, the science is clear. This month, a study published in the journal Nature by a renowned MIT climatologist linked the increasing prevalence of destructive hurricanes to human-induced global warming.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Now we are all learning what it's like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was Barbour's memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast. [UPDATE: Alas, the reprieve for New Orleans was only temporary. But Haley Barbour still has much to answer for.]<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/for-they-that-sow-the-win_b_6396.html=history commons
<div class="iT" style="width: 524px; display: table; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);"><h2 style="margin: 3px 0px 0px; width: 400px; float: left;"><a href="http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a040401environnepdg#a040401environnepdg" title="View in context" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">April 4, 2001: Environmentalists Allowed to Meet with Cheney’s Energy Task Force</a></h2><div class="iT" style="width: 524px; display: table; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);">
</div>Representatives of 13 environmentalist groups meet with officials from Vice President Cheney’s energy task force (the National Energy Policy Development Group—see <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a0501energyplan" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">May 16, 2001</a>). Since late January, some 40 task force meetings have been held, all with oil and energy company executives and lobbyists (see <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=abefore012001cheneyaei" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Before January 20, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=aafter012001enron" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">After January 20, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=amid0201rouselay" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Mid-February, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=amid0201nmaepa" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Mid-February, 2001</a>,<a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a030501utilitycheney" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">March 5, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a032001aeiorder" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">March 20, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a032101dunhamnepdg" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">March 21, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a032201bpcheney" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">March 22, 2001</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a041201oilgasnepdg" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">April 12, 2001</a>. <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a041701shellnepdg" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">April 17, 2001</a>, and <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a041701cheneylay" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">April 17, 2001 and After</a>). Today is the one day where environmental groups are allowed to have any input. Anna Aurilio of the US Public Interest Group will later say, “It was clear to us that they were just being nice to us.” (Notably, the only people ever identified as “lobbyists” by the task force to the press are the representatives from the environmental groups from today’s meeting.)</div><div class="iT" style="width: 524px; display: table; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);">
</div><div class="iT" style="width: 524px; display: table; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);"> Their input is neither wanted nor used; an initial draft of the task force’s report has already been prepared and President Bush has already been briefed on its contents. The names of the various officials, executives, lobbyists, and representatives who meet with the task force will not be released for six years (see <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a071807nepdgparticipants" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">July 18, 2007</a>). Until this meeting, the only environmentalist group to meet with the Cheney task force has been the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, founded in 1998 by conservative tax activist Grover Norquist and Gale Norton, now the Bush administration’s Secretary of the Interior. That group is now run by Italia Federici, described by the Washington Post as “socially involved” with Norton’s deputy, J. Steven Griles. <cite style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: normal; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1-4000-6576-3/centerforcoop-20" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none;">DUBOSE AND BERNSTEIN, 2006, PP. 18</a>;<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?hpid=topnews" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none;">WASHINGTON POST, 7/18/2007</a>]</cite>
</div><div class="t" style="padding-left: 15px;">Entity Tags: <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=richard(dick)cheney" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Richard (“Dick”) Cheney</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=j__steven_griles_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">J. Steven Griles</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=us_public_interest_group_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">US Public Interest Group</a>,<a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=national_energy_policy_development_group_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">National Energy Policy Development Group</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=italia_federici_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Italia Federici</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=anna_aurilio_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Anna Aurilio</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=grover_norquist" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Grover Norquist</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=council_of_republicans_for_environmental_advocacy_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=george_w.bush" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">George W. Bush</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=gale_a.norton" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Gale A. Norton</a>Timeline Tags: <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=the_bush_administration_s_environmental_record" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">US Environmental Record</a>
<a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=gale_a.norton">http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=gale_a.norton</a></div><a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/8-secrets-of-cheneys-energy-task-force-come-to-light/">http://www.projectcensored.org/8-secrets-of-cheneys-energy-task-force-come-to-light/</a>April 29, 2010<div class="post_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;">JUDICIAL WATCH, July 17,2003 Title: Cheney Energy Task Force Documents Feature Map of Iraqi Oilfields Author: Judicial Watch staffFOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS, January 2004 Title: “Bush-Cheney Energy Strategy:Procuring the Rest of the World’s Oil” Author: Michael KlareFaculty Evaluators: James Carr, Ph.D., Alexandra Von Meier, Ph.D. Student Researcher: Cassie Cypher, Shannon ArthurDocuments turned over in the summer of 2003 by the Commerce Department as a result of the Sierra Club’s and Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, dated March 2001, also feature maps of Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the project’s costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date.Documented plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry. According to Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton, “These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public.”When first assuming office in early 2001, President Bush’s top foreign policy priority was not to prevent terrorism or to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction-or any of the other goals he espoused later that year following 9-11. Rather, it was to increase the flow of petroleum from suppliers abroad to U.S. markets. In the months before he became president, the United States had experienced severe oil and natural gas shortages in many parts of the country, along with periodic electrical power blackouts in California. In addition, oil imports rose to more than 50% of total consumption for the first time in history, provoking great anxiety about the security of the country’s long-term energy supply. Bush asserted that addressing the nation’s “energy crisis” was his most important task as president.The energy turmoil of 2000-01 prompted Bush to establish a task force charged with developing a long-range plan to meet U.S. energy requirements. With the advice of his close friend and largest campaign contributor, Enron CEO, Ken Lay, Bush picked Vice President Dick Cheney, former Halliburton CEO, to head this group. In 2001 the Task Force formulated the National Energy Policy (NEP), or Cheney Report, bypassing possibilities for energy independence and reduced oil consumption with a declaration of ambitions to establish new sources of oil.The Bush Administration’s struggle to keep secret the workings of Cheney’s Energy Task Force has been ongoing since early in the President’s tenure. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, requested information in spring of 2001 about which industry executives and lobbyists the Task Force was meeting with in developing the Bush Administration’s energy plan. When Cheney refused disclosure, Congress was pressed to sue for the right to examine Task Force records, but lost. Later, amid political pressure building over improprieties regarding Enron’s colossal collapse, Cheney’s office released limited information revealing six Task Force meetings with Enron executives.With multiple lawsuits currently pending, the Bush Administration asserts that its right to secrecy is a matter of executive privilege in regard to White House records. But because the White House staffed the Task Force with employees from the Department of Energy and elsewhere, it cannot pretend that its documents are White House records. A 2001 case, in which the Justice Department has four times appealed federal court rulings that the Vice President release task force records, has been brought before the Supreme Court. The case Richard B Cheney v. U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia, No. 03-475, to be heard by Cheney’s friend and duck hunting partner, Justice Scalia, is now pending. Cases based on the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Freedom of Information Act which require the Task Force a balanced membership, open meetings, and public records, are attempting to beat the Bush Administration in its battle to keep its internal workings secret.UPDATE BY MICHAEL KLARE: The issue of U.S. dependence on imported oil has only become more critical over the past few months as U.S. oil demand has risen and global supplies have contracted, pushing up gasoline prices in the U.S., and thereby threatening the economic recovery now (supposedly) under way. This, in turn, has made oil prices and dependency an issue in the presidential election, with President George W. Bush defending the status quo and Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, calling for dramatic action to reduce U.S. dependence on imported petroleum.The contraction of global supplies is due in large part to political turmoil in the major producing areas – precisely the sort of situation I predicted in my article. In particular, the pace of overseas oil production has been moderated by repeated sabotage of oil infrastructure in Iraq, terrorist strikes on foreign oil firms in Saudi Arabia, ethnic unrest in the Delta region of Nigeria, and continuing political turbulence in Venezuela. Together, these developments have pushed oil prices to their highest levels in decades. At the same time, the Bush Administration has shown no inclination to reduce U.S. military involvement in major overseas producing areas, especially the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea basin and Africa.All of this has had one effect: The major news media are beginning to pay much closer attention to the links between political turmoil abroad and the economics of oil at home. Most major newspapers, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, have published articles on various aspects of this problem. Still, the media remains reluctant to explain the close link between the energy policies of the Bush Administration and U.S. military strategy.A number of new books have come out (or soon will) that bear on this subject. My own book, “Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Petroleum Dependency” will be published by Metropolitan Books in August. Also highly recommended are: “Out of Gas,” by David Goodstein (W.W. Norton); “The End of Oil,” by Paul Roberts (Houghton Mifflin); and “The Party’s Over,” by Richard Heinberg (New Society Publishers).</div>vice bk: NEPD est 10 days after oath; secret task force had couple congr but they did not brief collegaues 8 barbour and other lobby met at curb and hustled in; reporters watch cabs and limos like kremlin; waxman asked info, ~, so David walker GAO helped; center gop, RR, 10 yrs at Arthur Anderson partner; BC picked 1998; gao is watchdog, nonpart rept gold std ~ david Addington add; Duke Law, CIA, staffer house intel com; dc sec defense b1 add went w/ 1989; unitary; pres can ignore congr law or reinterpet, esp in times of war p 10; task force; 15 lobby plus 1 gov't official ~ FACA Fed Advisory Comms Act this is not a pipe 10paul o'n liked public/pvt mts, but transparent; smelled trouble; Suskin price of Loyalty dc says info gets used by enemy p 11HW and dingell sent ltr; m matalin said "politics of destruction" asked for names and notes 11; walker rolled back to only names of non-gov.11 but dc and mm k to say the req was for more,a lie  12; int by Tony Snow on Fox -->WH spokes; exec privil only to protect nat'l sec or funct of prez; bruce fein const law RR ~; 1st x 80 yrs gao sued; ted O argued tho way below his pay grade at distr ct level; judge john bates 1 yr appt b2 worked for starr on bimbo gate 14 ~ b/c no comm req, but all chair are gop so won't; lead house oversight comm req 5 subopenas wrt WH and GOP, but same comm in clinton admin 8 yrs asked for 1052. 14 walker did not applal b/c of $ waste, but said no big deal as ruling only applies to this case, but DC knew he cd use as precedent p 14 gop makes a fight whenever poss to give pres leverage over congress "rule is "like a loaded gun forever. 9" to congr head p 14-5 say fein.Ashcroft backs dc, nrdc and jud watch sued [jud wat just did something evil yesterday?trayvon]p 15 got oilfield maps [recall wolfie plan for decades0 ; vulan dc, rumy, wolf, powell, rice , armitage, perel); oil min from neighbor contryirs caled in; task force head Joe Kelliher ask lobby Dana Contratto wish list il duce 17 API fill in the bl exec order becomes 13211 verbatim fed rel dir James Ford, dereg , no jud review p 17 !! [ = Halib Loophole?]  3/1 IF Engelhardt and fred palmer eo and VP peabody met lundquist, sec of eng S Abraham, b2 eco advisor Larry Lindsey; stock offer IPO coming; 3/16 task rept hype coal 3/21 321 IPO got 420$mil, 60 over predictedepa rep on task blocked frack; pulled from draft, but stuck back in final p 18 [see H loophole?]only "lobbyists names/pix were green; 4 yrs after task force over, sen comm got lies from ceo's etc but Sec serv log leaked, so lautenberg say give to DOJ to improve memory 18==

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<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lee Raymond ceo knew cheney 20 yrs, hunt; hali and exxon did deals, AEI retreats lynne</div>

<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">exxon had good access to clinton admin, tho gore pres made nervous; </div>

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<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">secret task force did not meet long and results came out fast, which suggests pre-cooked, but output could rapidly be put into action thru exec order, policy and law 69, one goal open ANWR coll</div>

==

ch4: energy in the executive

dc got whatever he wanted in terms of scope asked for energy , mistake to think as niche pjt of vp past; allowed him to redefine bndry between pres v legis and reg v mkt p 81

since mid 70's leg and ct grab pwr, and agencies go rogue 82

brk mo of climate 82 v sept 29 2000 b2 sp to ctr AGore: so2, nO, CO2 82 on ALL pwrplants; ctw G8, wrote memo on plane home encouraging b2 to continue b/c of for relations

Mr 1 haley memo energy lobby "eco-extremism" on CO2, most $ to reg ;  Mr 6 CTW sent plea to b2; Mr 8 dc staffers Cesar Conda, Karen Knutson and A Lundquist 4pp plan to 180; pivot is too soon to act, we need more sci study! 84 tried to look like morph not 180 alt is "innovative proactive approach vs 2 studies: ipcc and National Assessment Synthesis Team, offocials told task force to ignore 2 wd be "portrayed as fundemental assualt on sci" p 85

ctw did not see 4pp or barbour memo but bad vibe; she used to blow past the palace guard chit Mr 9 [b2 had promised no interfere from CEQ] got appt tues, slaved on ppt; before she met on 13th DC took b2 ready to sign reply to 4 sen (p85)

dc pol is to do the process, but now he said vp is elected just like pres is, so i do what i think is right [decider?]

pres ford wanted to be the hub; dc staff gave him bike whl w/ i spoke 87

b2 might 180 b/c kytoto lopside vote 88

180 on CO2 b/c not a pollut under CAA

bs apol to ctw for moving w/o her, but DC convinced him of crisis, tho own docs show none 89

ctw went to condy (and card?) rice called c powell who headed right over, but too late (p90) CPwl said let's work w. allies on CO2 anyway later

b2 order to vp was conservation and more energy, but cd derided cons as personal virtue 90 tho karen hughes urged him to "green it up" 90 mkt will take care of conservation when prices go up 91 [but goal of increase supply is to prevent that?]

b2 loved to hear about new technol but dc just boost supply and "practically' that's coal, oil and nuke, hobbled for decades by regs eg anwr; dc drilled knutson on new technol so he cd ctrarg 91

hillary rx task force hurt by open, so dc had dave add figure way around 91: make all members part of exec branch (but he cd still meet w/ all lobbyists)

James J Rouse, vp exxon $ inaug fund; ken l; duke, fla light and p {maine gov blowhard?]wr, el paso

apr 4 was green day, dc not 92 spend 1/2 time on intros; Lundq said if he heed, fired

4 yrs later oil exec still denied attending, incl rouse; dems threatened liars, but no action; spr 2001 2 hse comms, gao and outsides sent formal demands for info 93 lunq said give, dc cut him off; tho cost high, defend exec priv, sold to b2

dc gave much $ away to prevent appear of confl of intr 94

f/u to lehay on halib iraq contracts

stealth tactical advantage

unitary exec indvisible thus no oversight 96  framers have all 3 branches have a role in all; in vogue in RR, but they did it

Fed no 70 but DC distorts; post weatergate limits list p 100

GAO compt gen David Walker sent demand ltr, backed off a bit but still threat to sue 1st in 81 yrs 105 big mtg w. rove et al, nothing scary in docs but fight anway tho burn capital 105: arg that congress has NO right for ANY info not public, thus ct had no role; ct sidestepped and Jud WATCH JUMPED IN 106, FAILED BUT GOT BARB MEMO AND IRAQI OIL INFO; judge (b2 ally) ordered pvt showing of docs,dc refused,amazing 2nd front on jud ; scotus short circuit writ of mandamus, declined but found technical reason to send back to lower ct; another set back and case died--DC had not won on legal gnd but basically stymied GAO.

the enrgy pol bit that needed congr all died; all done thru exec (no energy bill till end of 2005)

==

LOBBIED CHENEY STAFF:

<table class="datadisplay" id="client_itemized"><caption class="top">Itemized Lobbying Expenses for USEC Inc</caption><thead><tr><th class="data">Firms Hired</th><th class="data">Total Reported by Filer</th><th class="data">Reported Contract Expenses (included in Total Reported by Filer)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="rowTint"><td>USEC Inc</td><td class="number">$2,100,000</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td align="left" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000029618&year=2001">USEC Inc</a></td><td class="center">-</td><td class="number">$2,100,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td align="left" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000023257&year=2001">Quinn Gillespie & Assoc</a></td><td class="center">-</td><td class="number">$320,000</td></tr><tr><td align="left" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000022176&year=2001">Patton Boggs LLP</a></td><td class="center">-</td><td class="number">$160,000</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td align="left" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000021774&year=2001">BKSH & Assoc</a></td><td class="center">-</td><td class="number">$100,000</td></tr><tr><td align="left" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000034922&year=2001">Johnston & Assoc</a></td><td class="center">-</td><td class="number">$0</td></tr><tr class="rowTint"><td>  </td><td>  </td><td class="number">$580,000</td></tr></tbody></table>

===

rfk2:

Ch 6  blueprint for plunder

energy co $48.3m to b2 and gop 2000, $58m since inaug 96  31 of 48 transition team energy

ties; cab and staff 4 cab sec, 6 powerful WH and 20 high level apptees

rove owned $250K enron stock early 2001 while energy pol made; also BP, amoco,

royal dutch shell  97 but involved in all decisions (scooter sold a bunch early 2001

dept comm ceo of cabot chem; undersec chief econ for exxon

secret task force; Nat Energy Pol Dev gp right after inaug P97  but Fed Advisory

Comm Act says any mtgs of pvt and public be disclosed, so official members all gov

as end-run 98  DC #2 spenser abrams (2000 failed relect sen after one term MI  $700K

from car industry) killed fuel effic; Joe Allbaugh dir F Energy Reg Comiss (tx

"iron triangle) wife lobby for reliant, entergy and txu); also Don Evans [just in news 7/13/?]tx,

norton (1/3 senate campaign energy co's), amd Paul O'Neill SIC vowed to sell alcoa stock

but stalled till after rep out, stock went up 30% p 99 thot he cd have good impact,

but realized not goal 101

may 17 01 report released --> energy bill ; exxon record profits, 2x prev yr 99

for 1st x, GAO sued for info, redently appt judge denied, no appeal , but Sierra C

and Jud watch won. scotus delayed till after election; scalia had gone to oil co

duck hunt junket refused to recuse, tho many demands 100 docs heavy redacted, and

nothing from CD = Cheney? mtgs 100

task force got input from API, Am Gas assoc, nat mining assoc and edison 101 400

co's combined in Alliance for Energy and ec growth to lobby.

B2 campaign workers became lobbyists; mtgs w/ task force; am gas at least 8 480 K

contrib 1999-02 etc, api, exelon, westinghouse, enron 10x, 6 w DC (who refused to

cap CA energy prices) 103  RELIANT engineered CA scam 103  Westar exec email said

$ to delay PAC was price for "seat at table" of the task force 103. DC says just

b/c someone gave $ to camp does not mean shd not have "express views " to gov 103

suskind bk says DC orchestrated idea of energy crisis, permitted no discuss and

said pres wd not read anyone's reports  (p104 ) day before rept released, foto op w/

green energy[april 2, just intros? or bs gop norton?]

chevron big input, api lang on exec order verbatim 104-5

19 mtgs/contacts w/ nuke ind over $1/2 mil contrib

Southern Co $1.6 m 99-02 met 7x, hired haley barbour and current rnc Marc Racicot SIC to

lobby esp on co2, New Src R rule key, req gpa plants to install control when upgrade or

expand 106  prosecuted by BC (8 of 51); dept Justice forced to drop suits EPA cheif

enforcement officer quit 106 "if you have a good lobbyist, you can just buy your

way out of trouble" 106  joined by edison's Tom Kuhn, b pioneer college roomate

edison 600k to gop 99-02 and its members almost 20 mil since 98  106

rep rec'd exempt old power plants from CAA; barbour raised $ 250K at may 21 gala,

$150k from So co.107

Haliburton gave 1 mil gop 97-02, and all soft money 1/2 mil to gop ; incentive to

pollute added to rep.bill, tho O'N says does not cost more to do right.

conservation a private virtue, not basis of public policy DC TO speech mo before

rep released 107  but 1 mpg increase = ANWR  2.6 = iraq and kuwait import, 8 all

of ME 108  JC cafe up 7.5, shortage --> glut p108, 86 rolled by RR; lovens says if

not, we need no persian gulf oil after 86; no need for wars; since 1990 80 mil car

$ , cancelled tax ded for green cars, less effic st'ds $100K tax break hummers etc.

result worst effic in 20 yrs 109  tax cuts to offset energy prices [basically

another subsidy !?]  bill ~ Daschle but end-run, by june 02  3/4 of 105 recs in

place

oct 01 weakend regs on mining and air pollut

power plants kill a Trillion fish/yr 111

took pwer from states to limit offshore drill, b2 refused to support Superfund

(hid as reform) but 1:4 Us ppl live near one 112  10c bbl cheap b/c excluded from

liability under cost recovery 112 normally epa can clean site then charge 3x to

poluter, so big leverage ; w/o tax, no cleanup; oct 03 fund went bankrupt, so cost

shifted to public.

ch 7 king coal

===

strat ignor; secret taks force: don evans, larry lindsay, allbaugh

DC said wd go to scotus on energy TF secret, GAO caved; of 25 energy gop donor 18 admitted to TF incl exelon ,peabody (900K in yrs to gop), enron (opposed grid upgrade b/c old one allowed manip) didn't want firstenergy to install digital switches big blackout 2003

---

nrdc asked for info on secret task f; 1st said only fed ppl there, but lie came out; nrdc got ct to give 7500pp but redacted so useless 171 by ashcroft; ted olson arg case (odd, DC lost, referred to scotus (shock they took, will be heard 2004 [lost? jud watch?]

energy bill 2003 tauzin, delay domenici, ethanol, mod gop got anwr out in return for new power plants and hummer 100K tax break, protected delay biggest donor lyondell chem from mtbe suits and keep on mkt? max p 113 "oinking mastodon"   heritage and cato! did not pass, big defeat b2, but redone next yr (strat ignor

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force</a>

The National Energy Policy Development Group was a group, created by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Executive_Order" title="Executive Order" class="mw-redirect">Executive Order</a> on January 29, 2001, that was chaired by Vice President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Cheney" title="Richard Cheney" class="mw-redirect">Richard Cheney</a>. The group, commonly referred to as the "Cheney Energy Task Force," produced a National Energy Policy report in May 2001. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> In a cover note to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect">George W. Bush</a>, Cheney wrote that "we have developed a national energy policy designed to help bring together business, government, local communities and citizens to promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future." <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/Forward.pdf" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/Forward.pdf" rel="nofollow">[2]</a> (pdf) The composition of the task force, according to the report, was confined to government officials.

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="javascript:toggleToc()" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Meetings">1 Meetings</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Participants">2 Participants</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Recommendation_on_Coal">3 Recommendation on Coal</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Legal_Challenges">4 Legal Challenges</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Release_of_Documents">5 Release of Documents</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Commentary">6 Commentary</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Resources_and_articles">7 Resources and articles</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Related_SourceWatch_articles">7.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#References">7.2 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#Documents_.26_reports">7.3 Documents & reports</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#External_articles">7.4 External articles</a>

<ul>

<h2>Meetings</h2>

However, according to media reports at the time, energy industry executives participated in the Task Force. In particular, those identified as having been involved included then-<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Enron" title="Enron" class="mw-redirect">Enron</a> President and Chairman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Lay" title="Kenneth Lay" class="mw-redirect">Kenneth Lay</a> and lobbyists <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Haley_Barbour" title="Haley Barbour">Haley Barbour</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marc_Racicot" title="Marc Racicot" class="mw-redirect">Marc Racicot</a>.

In April 2001, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Natural_Resources_Defense_Council" title="Natural Resources Defense Council">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>, an environmental advocacy group, sought to obtain the records of the task force meetings. <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/bkgrd.asp" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/bkgrd.asp" rel="nofollow">[3]</a> In July 2001 <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Watch" title="Judicial Watch">Judicial Watch</a> filed suit on the grounds that the administration was not "in compliance with the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA), which mandates that certain documents, task force members, meetings, and decision-making activities be open to the public." <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/67/factsheet.htm" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/67/factsheet.htm" rel="nofollow">[4]</a> Judicial Watch argued that the acting as energy lobbyists -- "regularly attended and fully participated" in the group's meetings held behind closed doors, and were in fact members of the group. The Sierra Club also filed suit. (The two actions were later merged.) "At issue is whether Cheney allowed private energy <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lobbyist" title="Lobbyist">lobbyists</a> and big-name campaign contributors to participate in the work of the group, and if so, whether that information should be made public," UPI reported. <a href="http://foi.missouri.edu/usenergypolicies/riskscheney.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://foi.missouri.edu/usenergypolicies/riskscheney.html" rel="nofollow">[5]</a>

The organizations claim the documents will show the extent to which the task force staff met secretly with industry executives to craft the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_administration" title="Bush administration">Bush administration</a>'s energy policies, such as drilling for oil in the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arctic_National_Wildlife_Refuge" title="Arctic National Wildlife Refuge">Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</a> and weakening power plant pollution regulations.

<h2>Participants</h2>

Between late January and April 4, 2001, when "representatives of 13 environmental groups were brought into the Old Executive Office Building for a long-anticipated meeting" with Cheney, a "confidential list prepared by the Bush administration shows that Cheney and his aides had already held at least 40 meetings with interest groups, most of them from energy-producing industries. By the time of the [April 2001] meeting with environmental groups, according to a former White House official who provided the list to The Washington Post, the initial draft of the task force was substantially complete and President Bush had been briefed on its progress."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a> "In all, about 300 groups and individuals met with staff members of the energy task force, including a handful who saw Cheney himself, according to the list, which was compiled in the summer of 2001."

An earlier document obtained by the Washington Post in 2005 "was based on records kept by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Secret_Service" title="Secret Service">Secret Service</a> of people admitted to the White House complex."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a> "This person said most meetings were with Andrew Lundquist, the task force's executive director, and Cheney aide <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Karen_Y._Knutson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Karen Y. Knutson (page does not exist)">Karen Y. Knutson</a>."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Andrew_D.Lundquist" title="Andrew D. Lundquist">Andrew D. Lundquist</a> was then Director of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S.Department_of_Energy" title="U.S. Department of Energy">U.S. Department of Energy</a>.<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43150-2004Apr1.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43150-2004Apr1.html" rel="nofollow">[6]</a>

The names of participants cited on the lists<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-4" title="">[5]</a> include:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Eli_Bebout&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Eli Bebout (page does not exist)">Eli Bebout</a>, "an old friend of Cheney's from Wyoming who serves in the state Senate and owns an oil and drilling company", visited in March 2001.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-5" title="">[6]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Red_Cavaney" title="Red Cavaney">Red Cavaney</a>, "president of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Petroleum_Institute" title="American Petroleum Institute">American Petroleum Institute</a>, also met with Lundquist"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-6" title="">[7]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_N._Gerard" title="Jack N. Gerard">Jack N. Gerard</a>, "then with the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Mining_Association" title="National Mining Association">National Mining Association</a>, had a meeting with Lundquist and other staffers" in February 2001.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-7" title="">[8]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wayne_Gibbens&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wayne Gibbens (page does not exist)">Wayne Gibbens</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alby_Modiano&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Alby Modiano (page does not exist)">Alby Modiano</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._Oil_and_Gas_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="U.S. Oil and Gas Association (page does not exist)">U.S. Oil and Gas Association</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-8" title="">[9]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alan_Huffman&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Alan Huffman (page does not exist)">Alan Huffman</a>, "Conoco manager until the 2002 merger with Phillips, confirmed meeting with the task force staff."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-9" title="">[10]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_L._Lay" title="Kenneth L. Lay">Kenneth L. Lay</a>, then head of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Enron" title="Enron" class="mw-redirect">Enron</a>, "came by for the first of two meetings."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-10" title="">[11]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Malone&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bob Malone (page does not exist)">Bob Malone</a>, BP regional president, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peter_Davies" title="Peter Davies">Peter Davies</a>, chief economist, and "company employees" <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Graham_Barr" title="Graham Barr">Graham Barr</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Deb_Beaubien&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Deb Beaubien (page does not exist)">Deb Beaubien</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-11" title="">[12]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_Miller&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Steven Miller (page does not exist)">Steven Miller</a>, Shell Oil chairman, "and two others."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-12" title="">[13]</a></li>

<li>Sir <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_Moody-Stuart" title="Mark Moody-Stuart">Mark Moody-Stuart</a>, Royal Dutch/Shell Group's chairman.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-13" title="">[14]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_J._Rouse&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James J. Rouse (page does not exist)">James J. Rouse</a>, former Exxon vice president. In 2005 Rouse "denied the meeting took place."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-14" title="">[15]</a> In 2007, Rouse was revealed to be "One of the first visitors, on Feb. 14, [2001] ... then vice president of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Exxon_Mobil" title="Exxon Mobil">Exxon Mobil</a> and a major donor to the Bush inauguration".<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-15" title="">[16]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Robinson_West" title="J. Robinson West">J. Robinson West</a>, "chairman of the Washington-based consulting firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=PFC_Energy" title="PFC Energy">PFC Energy</a> and an old friend of Cheney's" met with Cheney.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-16" title="">[17]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Daniel_Yergin" title="Daniel Yergin">Daniel Yergin</a>, "chairman of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cambridge_Energy_Research_Associates" title="Cambridge Energy Research Associates">Cambridge Energy Research Associates</a> and author of The Prize, a history of the oil industry", met with Cheney and Lundquist.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-17" title="">[18]</a></li>

<li>

</li>

</ul>

"One advocacy group that visited was the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_of_Republicans_for_Environmental_Advocacy" title="Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy">Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy</a>, founded in 1998 by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grover_Norquist" title="Grover Norquist">Grover Norquist</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gale_A._Norton" title="Gale A. Norton">Gale A. Norton</a>, who became Bush's first interior secretary. Later, the group was run by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Italia_Federici" title="Italia Federici">Italia Federici</a>, who was involved socially with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_Griles" title="Steven Griles" class="mw-redirect">Steven Griles</a>. Griles, then Norton's deputy at Interior, was recently sentenced to prison for obstructing a Senate investigation of disgraced <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lobbyist" title="Lobbyist">lobbyist</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_Abramoff" title="Jack Abramoff">Jack Abramoff</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-18" title="">[19]</a>

Not named in the document released in 2005 was <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Matthew_Simmons&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Matthew Simmons (page does not exist)">Matthew Simmons</a> <a href="http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=msspeeches" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=msspeeches" rel="nofollow">[7]</a><a href="http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/INTERVIEWS/MATT.SIMMONS/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/INTERVIEWS/MATT.SIMMONS/" rel="nofollow">[8]</a>

In a November 2005 joint hearing of the U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Senate_Committee_on_Commerce,Science_and_Transportation" title="Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation" class="mw-redirect">Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation</a> and U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Senate_Committee_on_Energy_and_Natural_Resources" title="Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources">Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources</a>, Democrat Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Frank_Lautenberg" title="Frank Lautenberg" class="mw-redirect">Frank Lautenberg</a> asked the representatives of major oil companies "Did your company or any representatives of your companies participate in Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001?" Exxon's CEO <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lee_Raymon&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Lee Raymon (page does not exist)">Lee Raymon</a>, Chevron Chairman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_J.O%27Reilly" title="David J. O'Reilly">David J. O'Reilly</a> and ConocoPhillips chief executive, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_J._Mulva" title="James J. Mulva">James J. Mulva</a> all said "no". BP America chief executive <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ross_Pillari&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ross Pillari (page does not exist)">Ross Pillari</a> told the hearing he wasn't sure as he hadn't been with the company at the time. Shell Oil president <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Hofmeister" title="John Hofmeister" class="mw-redirect">John Hofmeister</a>, told the hearing "not to my knowledge."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-19" title="">[20]</a>

<h2>Recommendation on Coal</h2>

According to the Washington Post, "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_N._Gerard" title="Jack N. Gerard">Jack N. Gerard</a>, then with the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Mining_Association" title="National Mining Association">National Mining Association</a>, had a meeting with Lundquist and other staffers in February. He urged the administration to give the Energy Department responsibility for promoting technology for easing global warming and to keep the issue away from the Environmental Protection Agency, which could issue regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. The administration adopted that position."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_note-20" title="">[21]</a>

<h2>Legal Challenges</h2>

Initially, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Accounting_Office" title="General Accounting Office" class="mw-redirect">General Accounting Office</a>, the investigative arm of Congress, tried to make the records of the policy group public. When its legal action failed, the GAO dropped the attempt.

However, a Washington-based legal advocacy group, Judicial Watch, continued its own suit in federal court against the policy group, its members and several private individuals, alleging that the defendants had failed to comply with the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Federal_Advisory_Committee_Act&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Federal Advisory Committee Act (page does not exist)">Federal Advisory Committee Act</a>.

FACA compels the public disclosure of all advisory committee reports, records and documents, but does not apply to those groups composed solely of "federal officials."

<a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_1270.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_1270.shtml" rel="nofollow">Documents online at Judicial Watch</a> for JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY DEVELOPMENT GROUP Complaint filed against NEPDG, Office of the Vice President, for compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2 ("FACA"), and the Freedom of Information Act.

The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Department_of_Justice" title="Department of Justice" class="mw-redirect">Department of Justice</a> has four times appealed federal court rulings that the vice president (<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dick_Cheney" title="Dick Cheney">Dick Cheney</a>) release task force records. That case, in which Cheney claims his office has executive privilege, is now pending before the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=United_States_Supreme_Court" title="United States Supreme Court" class="mw-redirect">United States Supreme Court</a>. (See <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Antonin_Scalia" title="Antonin Scalia">Antonin Scalia</a>.)

<ul>

<li>1 April 2004: U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman rejected arguments by Bush administration lawyers that employees from the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S.Department_of_the_Interior" title="U.S. Department of the Interior">U.S. Department of the Interior</a> and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S.Department_of_Energy" title="U.S. Department of Energy">U.S. Department of Energy</a> can claim special confidentiality privileges for the period when they worked for the task force, which held private meetings with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Energy_industry&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Energy industry (page does not exist)">energy industry</a> representatives as it crafted a national energy policy. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43150-2004Apr1.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43150-2004Apr1.html" rel="nofollow">[9]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>1 April 2004: "The government must release more documents related to the White House task force that Vice President Dick Cheney convened in private to develop a national energy policy, a federal judge says. ... The order Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman covers material that the Energy Department, Interior Department and other federal agencies had refused to produce since a similar federal court ruling two years ago. ... Some documents released so far show energy executives met with high-level Energy Department officials, but the records Friedman ordered released now 'could be the most telling,' said Sharon Buccino, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'It's kind of the top of the food chain.'" <a href="http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/wptv/article/0,1651,TCP_1213_2775484,00.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/wptv/article/0,1651,TCP_1213_2775484,00.html" rel="nofollow">[10]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>24 June 2004: "The Supreme Court today rejected the Bush Administration's argument that it has a constitutional right to keep the workings of the Cheney Energy Task Force secret. The Court refused to rule on whether Vice President Cheney must produce documents in Sierra Club's suit and sent the case back to the Court of Appeals." <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0624-03.htm" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0624-03.htm" rel="nofollow">[11]</a>, <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/" rel="nofollow">[12]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Release of Documents</h2>

From Anne Gearan, <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/8330715.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/8330715.htm" rel="nofollow">"Judge orders release of energy documents,"</a> AP, April 1, 2004:

<dl>

<dd>The order Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman covers material that the Energy Department, Interior Department and other federal agencies had refused to produce since a similar federal court ruling two years ago.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>The latest order could cover some material that is the subject of a separate lawsuit now before the Supreme Court. That case also involves documents about the inner workings of the energy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney and housed in his office.</dd>

</dl>

<h2>Commentary</h2>

<ul>

<li>Paul Krugman, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/opinion/27KRUG.html" class="external text" title="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/opinion/27KRUG.html" rel="nofollow">"Vision of Power,"</a> New York Times, April 27, 2004:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>"As Linda Greenhouse recently pointed out in The New York Times, the legal arguments the administration is making for the secrecy of the energy task force are 'strikingly similar' to those it makes for its right to detain, without trial, anyone it deems an <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Enemy_combatant" title="Enemy combatant">enemy combatant</a>. In both cases, as Ms. Greenhouse puts it, the administration has put forward 'a vision of presidential power . . . as far-reaching as any the court has seen.'</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"That same vision is apparent in many other actions. Just to mention one: we learn from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Woodward" title="Bob Woodward">Bob Woodward</a> that the administration diverted funds earmarked for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> to preparations for an invasion of Iraq without asking or even notifying Congress.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"What Mr. Cheney is defending, in other words, is a doctrine that makes the United States a sort of elected dictatorship: a system in which the president, once in office, can do whatever he likes, and isn't obliged to consult or inform either Congress or the public."</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li>Dahlia Lithwick, <a href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2099569/" class="external text" title="http://slate.msn.com/id/2099569/" rel="nofollow">"I've Got a Secret. Dick Cheney's absolute right to know and not tell,"</a> Slate, April 27, 2004:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>"Today's case is a study in the evils of premature litigation. It's a lesson in why the cheerleader who doesn't make the squad throws everything off when she appeals to the gym teacher, then the principal, and then the secretary of education, instead of just sucking it up and joining the band. Vice President Cheney was sued by two watchdog groups--<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sierra_Club" title="Sierra Club">Sierra Club</a> <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.sierraclub.org/" rel="nofollow">[13]</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Watch" title="Judicial Watch">Judicial Watch</a> <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.judicialwatch.org/" rel="nofollow">[14]</a>--for information about the outsiders who served on his energy policy task force in 2001. The watchdogs contend that 'task force' was just a series of cozy get-togethers in which energy executives and lobbyists, including <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_L._Lay" title="Kenneth L. Lay">Kenneth L. Lay</a>, took turns sitting on Cheney's lap, licking his ear, and requesting special favors. The <a href="http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/energy/bushepolicy51601.pdf" class="external text" title="http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/energy/bushepolicy51601.pdf" rel="nofollow">final report</a> issued by the commission sort of reads that way. When Cheney was ordered to produce the rosters and minutes of these meetings as part of pretrial discovery, he appealed that order all the way up to the U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Supreme_Court" title="Supreme Court">Supreme Court</a>."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"So, how do you get to the Supreme Court? Mandamus, mandamus, mandamus. The government leapfrogged over the usual procedures and filed for extraordinary relief--in the form of a writ of mandamus--in the appeals court. And when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied that writ, noting that the case needed to be fully decided in the lower court first, Cheney took the up elevator to the Supreme Court instead of the down elevator back to the trial court.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"This becomes one of the key issues in Cheney v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (That's right, he's named the lower court as his opponent.) It's a bedrock legal principle that courts of appeals don't decide issues over which they have no jurisdiction, and that courts of appeals don't decide cases when there has been no final decision from a lower court, unless there's a pretty good reason."</dd></dl>

<h2>Resources and articles</h2>

<h3>Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Executive_privilege" title="Executive privilege" class="mw-redirect">executive privilege</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oil_depletion" title="Oil depletion">Oil depletion</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oil_industry" title="Oil industry">oil industry</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Cheney" title="Richard Cheney" class="mw-redirect">Richard Cheney</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Unitary_Executive_Theory" title="Unitary Executive Theory">Unitary Executive Theory</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">"Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report,"</a> Washington Post, July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> Dana Milbank and Justin Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">"Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force,"</a> Washington Post, November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-2" title="">↑</a> Dana Milbank and Justin Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">"Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force,"</a> Washington Post, November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-3" title="">↑</a> Dana Milbank and Justin Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">"Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force,"</a> Washington Post, November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-4" title="">↑</a> Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">"Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report,"</a> Washington Post, July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-5" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-6" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-7" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-8" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-9" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-10" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-11" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-12" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-13" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-14" title="">↑</a> Milbank and Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-15" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-16" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-17" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-18"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-18" title="">↑</a> Abramowitz and Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">Washington Post,</a> July 18, 2007.</li>

<li id="cite_note-19"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-19" title="">↑</a> Dana Milbank and Justin Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html" rel="nofollow">"Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force,"</a> Washington Post, November 16, 2005.</li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force#cite_ref-20" title="">↑</a> Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?hpid=topnews" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?hpid=topnews" rel="nofollow">"Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report,"</a> Washington Post, July 18, 2007</li>

</ol>

<h3>Documents & reports</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/cheney_case/" class="external text" title="http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/cheney_case/" rel="nofollow">Sierra Club case files</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/energytaskforce/" class="external text" title="http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/energytaskforce/" rel="nofollow">"White House Energy Task Force,"</a> FindLaw Legal News. Documents.</li>

<li>"<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/cheney_energy_task_force.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/cheney_energy_task_force.html" rel="nofollow">Energy Task Force Meetings Participants</a>," Washington Post.</li>

<li><a href="http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/gao/gaocheney120902opn.pdf" class="external text" title="http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/gao/gaocheney120902opn.pdf" rel="nofollow">David M. Walker, Comptroller of the United States, Plaintiff v. Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States and Chair, National Energy Policy Development Group</a>, Civil Action No. 02-0340 (JDB), United States District Court for the District of Columbia, December 9, 2002; posted online by FindLaw: "4 The Court has received amicus curiae briefs from the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Government_Integrity" title="Center for Government Integrity">Center for Government Integrity</a>, on behalf of defendant, and from Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harry_Reid" title="Harry Reid">Harry Reid</a> of Nevada, on behalf of plaintiff."</li>

<li>Official report of the Task Force, at the White House: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/" class="external text" title="http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/" rel="nofollow">whitehouse.gov/energy/</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/071703.b_PR.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.judicialwatch.org/071703.b_PR.shtml" rel="nofollow">Cheney Energy Task Force</a> Documents Feature <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/071703.c.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.judicialwatch.org/071703.c.shtml" rel="nofollow">Map of Iraqi Oilfields</a>. Commerce & State Department Reports to Task Force Detail Oilfield & Gas Projects, Contracts & Exploration. Saudi Arabian & UAE Oil Facilities Profiled As Well, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Watch" title="Judicial Watch">Judicial Watch</a>/judicialwatch.org, July 17, 2003.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/03-475.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/03-475.htm" rel="nofollow">Docket: "Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, et al., Petitioners v. United States District Court for the District of Columbia, et al."</a>, Docketed: October 1, 2003.</li>

</ul>

<h3>External articles</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0D9143AF934A2575AC0A9659C8B63&fta=y" class="external text" title="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0D9143AF934A2575AC0A9659C8B63&fta=y" rel="nofollow">"Washington: Appeal Sought On Energy Documents,"</a> New York Times, September 17, 2003: "The Bush administration told a federal appeals court that it would ask the Supreme Court to review a decision that requires Vice President Dick Cheney to give the Sierra Club documents from his task force on energy. Last week, the full United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit let stand a panel's decision that the government had no basis to ask the appeals court to block a lower court's ruling that called for disclosure of information. Mr. Cheney has invoked executive privilege in keeping the documents secret."</li>

<li>Michael Kirkland, <a href="http://foi.missouri.edu/usenergypolicies/riskscheney.html" class="external text" title="http://foi.missouri.edu/usenergypolicies/riskscheney.html" rel="nofollow">"Risks for Cheney in energy policy case,"</a> UPI, October 11, 2003.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Michael Janofsky, <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A1FF738550C7A8DDDAA0894DC404482&fta=y" class="external text" title="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A1FF738550C7A8DDDAA0894DC404482&fta=y" rel="nofollow">"Scalia Refusing to Take Himself Off Cheney Case,"</a> New York Times (abstract), March 19, 2004.</li>

<li>Linda Greenhouse, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/politics/25SCOT.html?fta=y" class="external text" title="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/politics/25SCOT.html?fta=y" rel="nofollow">"Administration Says a `Zone of Autonomy' Justifies Its Secrecy on Energy Task Force,"</a> New York Times, April 25, 2004.</li>

<li>Andrew Cohen, <a href="http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10308" class="external text" title="http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10308" rel="nofollow">"Wasting Energy,"</a> Tom Paine, April 27, 2004.</li>

<li>Linda Greenhouse, <a href="http://nytimes.com/2004/04/28/politics/28SCOT.html" class="external text" title="http://nytimes.com/2004/04/28/politics/28SCOT.html" rel="nofollow">"Justices Hear Arguments in Energy Task Force Case,"</a> New York Times, April 28, 2004.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>"<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/10/AR2005111000917.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/10/AR2005111000917.html" rel="nofollow">U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Hold a Joint Hearing on Energy Pricing and Profits</a>", Transcript of Proceedings, November 9, 2005. Part 3 of 3</li>

<li>Icarus Rising, <a href="http://www.atsnn.com/story/183226.html" class="external text" title="http://www.atsnn.com/story/183226.html" rel="nofollow">"Big Oil's Big Lies,"</a> ATSNN.com, November 16, 2005.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/11/17.html#a5911" class="external text" title="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/11/17.html#a5911" rel="nofollow">"Big Oil Lies,"</a> Crooks and Liars, November 17, 2005.</li>

<li>Justin Blum, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201655_pf.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201655_pf.html" rel="nofollow">"Big Oil 'Participation' at Issue. Definitions Cited in Dispute Over Roles in Energy Task Force,"</a> Washington Post, November 23, 2005.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_politics" rel="nofollow">"Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report,"</a> Washington Post, July 18, 2007.</li>

</ul>

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----

mojo

The energy task force was created days after onetime oilman George W. Bush took office in 2001, and was headed by Cheney, a former CEO at Halliburton, one of the world's largest providers of oilfield products and services. For months, the task force solicited input on US energy policy. On May 16, 2001, the group issued its <a href="http://www.wtrg.com/EnergyReport/National-Energy-Policy.pdf">final report</a>, which was submitted to Congress in June. But the participants and details of the discussions were kept tightly under wraps.

The open-government group Judicial Watch tried to pry details of the task force's deliberations from the administration in June, arguing that the sessions qualified as public information under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the open-meetings law. The US General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, also sought information on which industry executives and lobbyists had attended the gatherings.

But in the first of many clashes over presidential secrecy, the White House rejected those requests, arguing that it was entitled to conduct the meetings behind closed doors thanks to executive privilege. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club sued, <a target="_blank" href="http://motherjones.com/environment/2004/04/low-energy">but the Supreme Court</a> ultimately sided with the administration. Though some information has trickled out in the years since, the vast majority of the task force's deliberations remain hidden from the public eye.

Here's what we know about the task force and offshore drilling. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, was able to obtain 13,500 pages of <a target="blank" href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/tfinx.asp">heavily redacted documents</a> that gave a glimpse into the role industry leaders played in shaping the administration's policies (NRDC also got a <a target="blank" href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/pdf/doevaughn.pdf">list of the documents</a> (PDF) that the administration refused to turn over). In July 2007, the Washington Post got a list of the roughly 300 groups and individuals who met with task force staffers and, in some cases, Cheney himself.

BP officials <a target="blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842_pf.html">were among</a> those who "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the administration, though when that fact came to light, the company refused to comment on those meetings. We still don't know what specific policy areas BP execs weighed in on. Perhaps it's little surprise that <a target="blank" href="http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/bp-hires-cheneys-press-flack">BP recently hired</a> Cheney's former press secretary, a public defender of the secret task force, to help the company with crisis communication after the spill.

But we do have a few more details about other oil industry players in the talks. Chevron's CEO contributed a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/pdf/2004.pdf">detailed list</a>(PDF) of ways in which the government could "eliminate federal barriers to increased energy supplies"—many of which <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020521b.asp%22">were incorporated in the task force's final report</a>. This included recommendations to ease federal permitting rules for energy development and a request that the administration support opening up new areas of the eastern Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil and gas development. Doing so, wrote Chevron CEO David O'Reilly, would "demonstrate a commitment to reject unjustified opposition to new energy leasing and development."

The American Petroleum Institute offered its <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://www.pbs.org/now/science/APImemo.pdf">own long list</a> of suggestions for energy policy. A March 20, 2001, email from API to an official at the Energy Department included a <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/doc140.html%22">draft executive order</a> calling for all federal agencies to issue a detailed statement on any regulatory action that "adversely affects energy supply, distribution or use." It was nearly identical to the <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/eos/eo13211.html%22">order Bush issued just two months later</a>.

Many of the recommendations from the task force report were adopted in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. That legislation provided <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22">$6 billion in subsidies</a> for oil and gas development. Royalty payments for oil and gas development were waived in several regions of the US. Some companies were allowed to pay royalties with oil, rather than money—a less transparent system that was more vulnerable to abuse. The bill also provided $1.5 billion in direct payments to companies to incentivize drilling in deepwater wells, and curtailed the power of states to oversee oil and gas exploration off their coasts under the Coastal Zone Management Act.

In addition, the bill weakened environmental protections for offshore drilling, making it easier to exclude a broad range of exploration and drilling activities from analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. This has been cited as the reason that the Deepwater Horizon site was not subjected to a thorough <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22">environmental analysis</a>.

The task force's final report also presented a rosy picture of the offshore drilling industry. Newer oil and gas drilling methods, it said, "practically eliminate spills from offshore platforms" and "enhance worker safety, lower risk of blowouts, and provide better protection of groundwater resources." The report advocated lifting the moratorium on portions of the outer continental shelf, noting that "concerns over the potential impacts of oil spills have been a major factor behind imposition of the OCS moratoria." Bush lifted the executive moratorium in 2008, and the Democratic-controlled Congress <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/05/4-dollar-gas-oil-spill%22">allowed its own moratorium</a> to expire.

But there's a lot we still don't know. The task force recommendations included scaling back regulations and oversight of offshore drilling while expanding incentive programs and access to resources, many of which would come to pass in future legislation. But how much the task force may have guided decisions at federal agencies—in particular the notoriously lax Minerals Management Service (MMS)—is unclear. The administration's directives across the agencies actively discouraged any regulations or oversight that might hinder development of resources.

Among the many questions is what role the task force may have played in a 2003 decision by the MMS not to require offshore rigs to install an acoustic shut-off switch, a remote-controlled backup system that seals off an underwater well even if the rig above is destroyed. Countries like Norway and Brazil require this precaution, and MMS considered doing the same. But oil companies complained that the $500,000 devices were too expensive and, they argued, ineffective. Ultimately, MMS made the switches optional. The Deepwater Horizon was not outfitted with such a device, which could have prevented the spill. Other <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/05/bp-bill-nelson-oil-spill%22">concerns include</a> a failure to implement new cementing policies or act on known concerns about key components on drilling rigs.

The Department of Justice has launched criminal and civil investigations into the disaster, while a presidential commission is looking into both the spill and offshore drilling policy in general. That  commission currently lacks subpoena power, though there's an <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/%22http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/senators-intro-bill-give-oil-spill-panel-power-subpoena%22">effort underway in Congress</a> to grant the commission that power. Numerous congressional committees have also launched probes of the spill. A congressional aide working for one of those committees indicated that there has been some discussion of revisiting the task force in those investigations, though no concrete steps to do so have been taken.

Open government advocates say this might be the appropriate time to push for more information about his task force. Mandy Smithberger, an investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, says that it's "definitely a ripe time" to find out more about what went on in the meetings. "I don't think you can understand how we got to where we are without looking back," she says.

"When you have a disaster of this magnitude, it raises the question, if in this whole secretive process, what was discussed, how much did the Bush administration ignore, how much did they allow the oil and gas industry to basically do what they wanted," says AnneWeismann, chief counsel at Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington. "Secrecy is so pernicious that it can continue to damage even when the administration is not in power."

<h3 class="author-name"><a href="http://motherjones.com/authors/kate-sheppard" class="author-name-link">Kate Sheppard</a></h3>

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/dick-cheney-bp-spill

Dick Cheney's Last Laugh

The Deepwater Horizon disaster raises new questions about the Bush administration's secret energy task force.

—By Kate Sheppard

| Thu Jun. 10, 2010

final report: http://www.wtrg.com/EnergyReport/National-Energy-Policy.pdf

</div>

</div>

see 2004 bill:

Bush's biggest supporters would profit handsomely from the bill. Sixty

of Bush's 400 Pioneers and Rangers -- those who have committed to

raising at least $100,000 and $200,000, respectively, for the

Bush-Cheney reelection effort -- would benefit from the tax breaks,

subsidies, and deregulation in the bill, according to an estimate by

the Sierra Club.

Massey Energy of West Virginia -- whose director, James H. " Buck "

Harless, is a major Bush fund-raiser --would get hundreds of millions

of dollars in loan guarantees for a coal gasification plant. Harless

served on President Bush's energy transition team, a precursor to Vice

President Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force, which developed the

critical blueprint for the energy package on Capitol Hill.

" The problem is that this has just turned into more of a special

interests bill, " said Charlie Coon, an energy specialist with the

Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. " The bottom line is,

it's not going to provide the power that's needed for the economy so

people can turn on their lights. It's such a farce. "

Behind closed doors

The construction of the bill reflects the way business is done in

Washington in 2004: With Republicans enjoying control of both chambers

of Congress, plus the White House, GOP leaders in the House craft

giant bills behind closed doors, freezing out the minority party and

squelching dissent from moderate Republicans and lobbyists whose

agendas are unsympathetic to the GOP's goals, according to interviews

with members of both parties and former House members.

And while other bills have included their share of earmarked projects

or handouts to various industries or interest groups, the energy bill

is considered by consumer and environmental groups to be one of the

most extreme examples of excessive corporate giveaways.

" What's really amazing is how a combination of energy industry, oil

and gas industry, utility industry guys, coal industry guys, through a

whole host of policy decisions -- through the Environmental Protection

Agency or the energy bill -- literally got billions of dollars in

payback for millions of dollars " in contributions and lobbying

expenses, said Mark Longabaugh, senior vice president for

publicaffairs for the League of ConservationVoters.

Page 3 of 9 -- The bill first began to come together as an outgrowth

of Cheney's energy task force, a committee of Washington officials

that met in private to draft a sweeping national energy policy shortly

after Bush took office.

A study by the nonpartisan General Accounting Office last year found

that the energy task force received advice from private " energy

stakeholders, " mainly the petroleum, coal, nuclear, natural gas, and

electricity industries. The report said it was unable to determine the

extent of the influence these industries had on policy, because of the

limited information made available to the GAO.

But other records released under a court order show that 15

energy-related entities known to have had contact with the task force

ended up winning provisions in the energy policy that would benefit them.

The Edison Electric Institute, which had contact with the task force

14 times and spent $12 million lobbying Washington last year, secured

a historic deregulation of the electricity industry analysts believe

could be worth billions of dollars.

==

Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force

By Dana Milbank and Justin Blum

Washington Post Staff Writers

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate "to my knowledge," and the chief of BP America Inc. said he did not know.

Chevron was not named in the White House document, but the Government Accountability Office has found that Chevron was one of several companies that "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the task force. In addition, Cheney had a separate meeting with John Browne, BP's chief executive, according to a person familiar with the task force's work; that meeting is not noted in the document.

The task force's activities attracted complaints from environmentalists, who said they were shut out of the task force discussions while corporate interests were present. The meetings were held in secret and the White House refused to release a list of participants. The task force was made up primarily of Cabinet-level officials. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club unsuccessfully sued to obtain the records.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who posed the question about the task force, said he will ask the Justice Department today to investigate. "The White House went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in the Cheney task force," Lautenberg said.

Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on the document. She said that the courts have upheld "the constitutional right of the president and vice president to obtain information in confidentiality."

The executives were not under oath when they testified, so they are not vulnerable to charges of perjury; committee Democrats had protested the decision by Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) not to swear in the executives. But a person can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years for making "any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation" to Congress.

Alan Huffman, who was a Conoco manager until the 2002 merger with Phillips, confirmed meeting with the task force staff. "We met in the Executive Office Building, if I remember correctly," he said.

A spokesman for ConocoPhillips said the chief executive, James J. Mulva, had been unaware that Conoco officials met with task force staff when he testified at the hearing. The spokesman said that Mulva was chief executive of Phillips in 2001 before the merger and that nobody from Phillips met with the task force.

Exxon spokesman Russ Roberts said the company stood by chief executive Lee R. Raymond's statement in the hearing. In a brief phone interview, former Exxon vice president James Rouse, the official named in the White House document, denied the meeting took place. "That must be inaccurate and I don't have any comment beyond that," said Rouse, now retired.

Ronnie Chappell, a spokesman for BP, declined to comment on the task force meetings. Darci Sinclair, a spokeswoman for Shell, said she did not know whether Shell officials met with the task force, but they often meet members of the administration. Chevron said its executives did not meet with the task force but confirmed that it sent President Bush recommendations in a letter.

The person familiar with the task force's work, who requested anonymity out of concern about retribution, said the document was based on records kept by the Secret Service of people admitted to the White House complex. This person said most meetings were with Andrew Lundquist, the task force's executive director, and Cheney aide Karen Y. Knutson.

According to the White House document, Rouse met with task force staff members on Feb. 14, 2001. On March 21, they met with Archie Dunham, who was chairman of Conoco. On April 12, according to the document, task force staff members met with Conoco official Huffman and two officials from the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, Wayne Gibbens and Alby Modiano.

On April 17, task force staff members met with Royal Dutch/Shell Group's chairman, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Shell Oil chairman Steven Miller and two others. On March 22, staff members met with BP regional president Bob Malone, chief economist Peter Davies and company employees Graham Barr and Deb Beaubien.

Toward the end of the hearing, Lautenberg asked the five executives: "Did your company or any representatives of your companies participate in Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001?" When there was no response, Lautenberg added: "The meeting . . . "

"No," said Raymond.

"No," said Chevron Chairman David J. O'Reilly.

"We did not, no," Mulva said.

"To be honest, I don't know," said BP America chief executive Ross Pillari, who came to the job in August 2001. "I wasn't here then."

"But your company was here," Lautenberg replied.

"Yes," Pillari said.

Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, who has held his job since earlier this year, answered last. "Not to my knowledge," he said.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/18/877102/-Dick-Cheney-rears-his-head-over-the-Gulf-disaster

<h2><a id="titleHref" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/18/877102/-Dick-Cheney-rears-his-head-over-the-Gulf-disaster">Dick Cheney rears his head over the Gulf disaster</a></h2>

by <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/1BQ">1BQ</a><a class="type-user do-hotlist do-updateContent size-tiny off altTooltip ajaxON" alt="Follow this author" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/18/877102/-Dick-Cheney-rears-his-head-over-the-Gulf-disaster#?friend_id=137962&is_stream=1">Follow</a>

</div>

</li>

<li>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/18/877102/-Dick-Cheney-rears-his-head-over-the-Gulf-disaster</li>

<li>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

You probably know that <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/01/nation/la-na-oil-spill-investigation-20100501">Halliburton</a>, the contractor BP hired to <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126536457">cement the well</a>, is <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575214593564769072.html">under investigation</a> for <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl//business/deepwaterhorizon//6980770.html">its role in this disaster</a>.

You may also know that Dick Cheney has <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/17/cheney-oilspill/">ended his seclusion</a> in a <a href="http://erieathome.com/dct/62/id/488244/mid/148/Dick-Cheney-in-Erie.aspx">secure</a>, though <a href="http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100617/NEWS02/306169883/-1/news">disclosed</a>, location.

But do you know just how much of this disaster could be attributed, both directly and indirectly, to Dick Cheney? Viewed as a whole, his actions while in office make him look at least as culpable in the Gulf oil disaster as Tony Hayward. Please bear with me - this will take a while to explain...

</div>

The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html?pagewanted=all">failure of the MMS to regulate the oil and gas industries</a> is now <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/13/v-fullstory/1628453/congress-wants-to-know-why-mms.html">legendary</a> (to the extent that it was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/us/08agency.html?src=me">regulated</a> at all). It could be argued that the <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/10/93859/us-agency-lets-oil-industry-write.html">American Petroleum Institute regulated the MMS</a>, apparently, and despite its <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/13/v-fullstory/1628453/congress-wants-to-know-why-mms.html">inquiries</a>, <a href="http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item/a-mystery-when-did-govt-exempt-gulf-drilling-from-detailed-enviro-reviews">with Congress' permission</a>. How this came about was a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703537.html">long-term strategy</a>.

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It seems that Wyoming, Cheney's home state, has been a breeding ground for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming#Mineral_production">fossil fuel enthusiasts</a>. And those <a href="http://wyofile.com/2010/06/before-deepwater-horizon-disaster-wyomingites-had-key-roles-in-mms/">enthusiasts</a> found employment working for and with the Bush Administration:

The Wyoming connection was especially evident from 2000 to 2008, during the two administrations of President George W. Bush and his vice president, Wyoming native Dick Cheney. A former chief executive of Halliburton, Cheney took an early and very active interest in energy policy and placed several Wyoming political friends in key positions in the Department of Interior.

</blockquote>

Among those friends and the key positions they occupied:

-- David J. Gribbin III, a high school and college friend from Wyoming, was Cheney's transitional liaison with Congress. Gribbin previously worked for Cheney as Halliburton’s chief lobbyist in the capital.

-- Thomas Sansonetti, a prominent Cheyenne lawyer, GOP activist, and member of the conservative Federalist Society, who headed the team choosing top personnel for the Department of Interior, which oversees Minerals Management Service.

-- Gayle Norton, who, though not from Wyoming, was picked by Sansonetti to head Interior. Native Coloradan Norton was a longtime protégée of James Watt in the Mountain States Legal Foundation, of which Watt was the founding director. Norton was also a member of the Federalist Society.

-- Rebecca W. Watson, a former Sheridan, Wyoming, lawyer, who Norton named as assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Watson was responsible for the Bureau of Land Management, the Office of Surface Mining and the Minerals Management Service.

-- Rejane "Johnnie" Burton of Casper had managed the Wyoming Department of Revenue under former Gov. Jim Geringer. In 2007, Burton resigned under fire from her $168,000-a-year Minerals Management director’s job after the Department of Interior Inspector General found widespread corruption in the agency’s Colorado-based royalty collection office. In addition, questions were raised in Congress about Burton’s handling of offshore leases. Burton now works as a $49,000-a-year aide for longtime friend and former legislative colleague Wyoming U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

-- 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!)

-- Former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, as chairman of the House Resources Energy and Minerals subcommittee, was Congress’ most strident champion of the now-abandoned "Royalty-in-Kind" program that had allowed energy producers to pay Mineral Management Services royalties with gas or oil instead of cash. Where was the protest by the deficit hawks?

-- Current U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis pushed a proposal through the state Board of Land Commissioners to commit Wyoming’s 50 percent share of federal natural gas royalties to the Minerals Management Royalty-in-Kind program While serving as state treasurer in 2005. In 2008, Royalty in Kind accounted for more than half of the $543 million in federal gas royalties dispersed to the state. Deficit hawks, are you reading this?

</blockquote>

Got the picture? The Department of Interior in general, and the MMS in particular, were oozing with Cheney devotees. This ensured that the primary regulatory body for the fossil fuel industry would be "industry friendly." But that's just part of the story.

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Another part of the story is the "National Energy Policy Development Group," aka the Cheney Energy Task Force. Offered without comment from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force">Sourcewatch</a>:

The National Energy Policy Development Group was a group, created by Executive Order on January 29, 2001, that was chaired by Vice President Richard Cheney. The group, commonly referred to as the "Cheney Energy Task Force," produced a National Energy Policy report in May 2001. In a cover note to George W. Bush, Cheney wrote that "we have developed a national energy policy designed to help bring together business, government, local communities and citizens to promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future." The composition of the task force, according to the report, was confined to government officials.

However, according to media reports at the time, energy industry executives participated in the Task Force. In particular, those identified as having been involved included then-Enron President and Chairman Kenneth Lay and lobbyists Haley Barbour and Marc Racicot.

</blockquote>

The National Resources Defense Council filed a FOIA request for the records of the meetings. As they <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/bkgrd.asp">state</a>:

In early 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney presided over a task force charged with setting a new national energy policy. For months high-ranking Bush administration officials met in secret with lobbyists and executives from utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries. In May 2001 the task force released its recommendations: more subsidies to polluting industries, more reliance on oil, more nuclear power. Despite NRDC's repeated requests for information, the Bush administration refused to disclose the names of industry participants in the task force or what they discussed with Bush policymakers.

In April 2001 NRDC filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for access to the task force's records; the Bush administration refused to comply. NRDC filed suit, and a federal judge ordered the administration to turn over the documents. On March 25, 2002, nearly a year after first requesting them, NRDC received roughly 10,000 pages relating to the task force from the Department of Energy. Subsequently the department provided another 3,500 pages, but withheld more than 16,000 others.

</blockquote>

You can peruse the documents <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/tfinx.asp">here</a>. As they <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/tfinx.asp">clarify further</a>:

Even though the government heavily censored the documents before supplying them to NRDC, they reveal that Bush administration officials sought extensive advice from utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries, and incorporated their recommendations, often word for word, into the energy plan.

</blockquote>

The Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/may/03/usa-dickcheney">reported on</a> a piece by the WSJ:

The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills.

The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig last week...

... regulators in two major oil-producing countries, Norway and Brazil, in effect require them. Norway has had acoustic triggers on almost every offshore rig since 1993.

The U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism several years ago, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, according to the agency overseeing offshore drilling. The agency, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, says it decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

The U.K., where BP is headquartered, doesn't require the use of acoustic triggers.

</blockquote>

The Journal's report doesn't come out and say this, but the environmental lawyer, <a href="http://www.ringoffireradio.com/about/mike-papantonio/">Mike Papantonio</a>, said on the Schultz show in an interview you can watch <a href="http://www.georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/04/dick-cheney-caused-gulf-oil-disaster.html">here</a> that it was Cheney's energy task force - the secretive one that he wouldn't say much about publicly - that decided that the switches, which cost $500,000, were too much a burden on the industry. The Papantonio segment starts at around 5:00 in and lasts three minutes or so.

</blockquote>

So Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force, that was supposed to "promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future," <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501842.html">consulted with wolves on how best to guard the sheep</a>

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

</blockquote>

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Separately, the conservative <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Watch">Judicial Watch</a> <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_iraqi-oilfield-pr.shtml">filed a FOIA request of their own</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cheney_Energy_Task_Force">found that</a>

on the grounds that the administration was not "in compliance with the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA), which mandates that certain documents, task force members, meetings, and decision-making activities be open to the public." Judicial Watch argued that the acting as energy lobbyists -- "regularly attended and fully participated" in the group's meetings held behind closed doors, and were in fact members of the group. The Sierra Club also filed suit. (The two actions were later merged.) "At issue is whether Cheney allowed private energy lobbyists and big-name campaign contributors to participate in the work of the group, and if so, whether that information should be made public," UPI reported.

</blockquote>

They also <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_iraqi-oilfield-pr.shtml">found</a>:

that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts." The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: www.JudicialWatch.org.

The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) documents likewise feature a map of each country’s oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the projects, costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date.

</blockquote>

You can view the documents <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/iraqi-oil-maps.shtml">here</a>.

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When you tie the whole thing together, you end up with a compelling case for the following points, none of which is original and all of which are familiar to you, but taken as whole, detail an abuse of executive power that has resulted in preventable disasters:

-- Cheney appointed cronies to positions within the Bush Administration where they could be the most helpful to the fossil fuel industry, rubber-stamping the industry's every wish;

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force recommended rules and guidelines that allowed the fossil fuel industry to be self-"regulating;"

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force may have specifically recommended against a safety device that might have averted the loss of 11 lives;

-- The Cheney Energy Task Force <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/185/40573.html">appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there</a>

</blockquote>

Does anyone besides me think Dick Cheney ought to rear his orange-jumpsuit-clad head over a prison yard for the rest of his life? If so, can you contact an elected official to suggest that an investigation into Cheney's role in the abomination in the Gulf that he helped create (in addition to pulling us into a war of aggression) is at least as worthy of investigation as Tony Hayward?

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Please remember to rec the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/18/877166/-BP-Catastrophe-Liveblog-Mothership:-#24">BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership</a>!

</blockquote>

Post-coffee update: Thanks to those who've clicked through many of the links. In the semi-cold light of morning, I feel even more strongly that no matter how culpable Tony Hayward is, Dick Cheney played a pivotal role in enabling the cost-cutting measures that cost 11 lives on Deepwater Horizon, not to mention the thousands of lives lost or shattered in two wars of aggression.

</div>

<h4>Originally posted to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/blog/1BQ/">One burning question...</a> on Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 01:52 AM PDT.</h4>

If You Were "King" or "Il Duce"?

Joseph Kelliher, a former Energy Department official, had been soliciting advice from Williams, Reliant, El Paso, Enron and other energy companies on natural gas issues on behalf of Cheney, another area those companies were accused of gaming, particularly in California.

In a March 10, 2001 email, just a week or so after Cheney was briefed by Cruikshank about the Williams scheme, Kelliher emailed energy lobbyist Dana Contratto, asking Contratto if he was "King or "Il Duce, what would you include in a national energy policy, especially with respect to natural gas issues?", according to energy task force documents.

Contratto responded with a three-page list of ideas, many of which were included in the final version of the energy policy.

On another occasion, Kelliher sought out Stephen Craig Sayle, an Enron Corp. lobbyist, to make similar recommendations. Sayle, former counsel for the House Commerce Committee, sent Kelliher Enron's "dream list." The list included a recommendation that the administration commit to market-based emissions trading, which was also used in administration's National Energy Policy.

Sayle wrote Kelliher about the energy policy, saying, "a multi-pollutant regulatory strategy should be estimated for the power generation sector including: Gradually phased in [mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions] reductions; reform/replacement of NSR; use of market-based/emission trading programs; inclusion of both existing and new plants and equal treatment for both. The last bullet is the critical one to ensure that: a) we encourage the new generation that is required; b) we ensure that the new technologies developed through DOE programs can come into the market.

"Obviously, this is a dream list," Sayle said in the March 23, 2001 email he sent to Kelliher. "Not all will be done. But perhaps some of these ideas could be floated and adopted."

Sayle also provided Kelliher with a PowerPoint presentation on behalf of his other energy clients in the so-called Clean Power Group, a consortium made up of a handful of the country's biggest energy companies, including NiSource Inc., Calpine Corp., Trigen Energy Corp. and El Paso Corp, whose mission, according to the group's web site, is to "streamline requirements under the Clean Air Act for electric generating facilities while at the same time making major reductions in air emissions."

The PowerPoint presentation, A Comprehensive Multi-Pollutant Emission Control Strategy for Power Generation, summarized the Clean Power Group's support of a "cap and trade" method in addressing emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide from power plants, but included a proposal for a voluntary cap on carbon dioxide. The Clean Power Group stood to benefit from the initiative it urged Kelliher to get the White House to adopt in that the companies could release more emissions under its proposed plan than under the more restrictive rules the Clinton administration had put in place.

After receiving Sayle's email and supporting material, Kelliher recommended that President Bush "direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose multi-pollutant legislation that would establish a flexible, market-based program to significantly reduce and cap emissions; provide regulatory certainty to allow utilities to make modifications to their plants without fear of new litigation; provide market based incentives, such as emissions-trading credits to help achieve the required reductions," all of which the president approved and was eventually incorporated into the National Energy Policy.

In fact, President Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative consists of many of the bullet points laid out months earlier in Sayle's email to Kelliher.

In addition to Kelliher's correspondence with Sayle, he also met with oil and gas industry lobbyists who helped draft language that Kelliher passed on directly to the White House. Two months later, the president issued executive orders nearly identical to those Kelliher received from the lobbyists months earlier, according to energy task force documents.

Kelliher now chairs FERC, the agency that is entrusted with keeping a close eye on wholesale energy markets, ensuring that companies like Williams and Reliant refrain from engaging in the type of manipulative practices they were caught doing during the spring and summer of 2000 in California.

Cheney Orders FERC to Seal Evidence...WASHINGTON, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- 

The Democratic National Committee issued the following today: 

Dick Cheney began dropping hints this week as to what the Bush energy policy will look like, and it is long on oil and short on conservation. But something was missing from the coverage of Cheney's announcement: not just who benefits from the Bush plan, but who's writing it as well. 

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000107/DCF015 ) 

It's hard to <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/understate" style="color: black;">understate</a> the influence big donors and high-ranking executives have with the Bush Administration. Take Tom Kuhn, for example, one of the energy executives who came calling when Bush was thinking about actually following through on his pledge to limit <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/carbon+dioxide" style="color: black;">carbon dioxide</a> levels. Kuhn, a top Bush fundraiser, also served on Bush's Energy Department transition advisory team, and still enjoys access to the highest reaches of the Bush White House. 

Not surprisingly then, the Big Oil Bush Administration's energy policy could not make Bush's huge donors and the special interests in the energy business any happier. Since the energy industry's problems are Bush's problems, the <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/First+Things" style="color: black;">first things</a> on Bush's hit list are the environmental regulations that keep Big Energy in check -- and our country clean. 

With an energy executive running around the West Wing, Bush's energy policy could be summed up as, "Drill anywhere, anytime, and keep those checks coming." 

The Democratic Party is committed to fighting for a balanced energy policy that keeps our country's priorities -- such as a clean environment -- in mind. 

To learn more about Bush's misplaced priorities and kowtows to the special interests, keep reading to find out the "Top Ten Paybacks To The Energy Industry," and to see how you, too, can get on the Bush <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gravy+train" style="color: black;">gravy train</a> in "Recipe for a <a class="tip" href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Quid+pro+quo" style="color: black;">Quid Pro Quo</a>," courtesy of the Democratic Party's http://www.100DaysofBush.com . 

BUSH'S TOP TEN PAYBACKS TO THE ENERGY INDUSTRY 

One of the most obvious and recurring themes of Bush's first 100 days has been the extraordinary influence the oil and gas industry has had in the new administration. Oil and gas interests are some of Bush's top campaign contributors, giving more than $3 million to get Bush elected. In exchange, Bush has rolled back regulations issued by the <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Clinton+administration" style="color: black;">Clinton administration</a> on such things as air conditioner efficiency, as well as breaking his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Bush has proposed drilling in the <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Arctic+National+Wildlife+Refuge" style="color: black;">Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</a> and national monuments. Bush has taken a backseat when it comes to the energy crisis California is experiencing, while cutting funding for energy conservation programs. He has also repaid top donors, lobbyists and industry officials with key positions throughout his administration. 

Here is just a sampling of how the oil, gas and other energy industries have benefited in Bush's first 100 days: 

1 - BUSH BROKE CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO REGULATE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS 

* Bush Pledged to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions. On September 29, 

in Michigan, Bush pledged that he would "work to make our air 

cleaner" while promoting electricity and <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Renewable+energy" style="color: black;">renewable energy</a>. "With 

the help of Congress, environmental groups and industry we will 

require all power plants to meet clean air standards in order to 

reduce emissions of <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Sulfur+dioxide" style="color: black;">sulfur dioxide</a>, <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nitrogen+oxide" style="color: black;">nitrogen oxide</a>, mercury and 

carbon dioxide within a reasonable period of time," Bush said. 

(Bush speech, "A Comprehensive National Energy Policy," 9/29/00, 

Saginaw, MI) 

* Bush Broke Promise to Appease Coal and Oil Industries Who Donated to 

His Campaign. However, in a March 2001 letter to Republican 

Senators, Bush said he decided to back off this campaign pledge to 

regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, after 

encountering strong resistance from the coal and oil industries, as 

well as Republicans. "I do not believe, however, that the government 

should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for 

carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act," 

Bush wrote in his letter. Bush received a total of $1,848,968 

during his presidential campaign, Florida recount and inauguration 

from the oil, mining, electric utility and railroad industries. 

(Associated Press, 3/13/01; Washington Post, 3/14/01; Bush letter to 

Senator <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Chuck+Hagel" style="color: black;">Chuck Hagel</a>, 3/13/01; www.opensecrets.org) 

2 - BUSH TAKES HANDS-OFF APPROACH TO CALIFORNIA CRISIS 

WHILE ENERGY COMPANIES MAKE MILLIONS 

Bush Did Little to Aid California in Energy Crisis; Fleischer Said Crisis is a "California Matter." Bush has done little to aid California in its energy crisis, such as refusing to support wholesale price caps on electricity. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The president continues to believe that the issue is mostly a California matter, dealing with the legislation that is before the state. And the leaders of California are working to address that in their own right." Fleischer also said that Bush wanted to focus on a "long term" national energy policy. (AAP <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/newsfeed" style="color: black;">Newsfeed</a>, 1/23/01; Wall Street Journal, 1/23/01) 

Texas Energy Company Accused of <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/price+gouging" style="color: black;">Price Gouging</a> to Make Money off California's Energy Crisis. The <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Federal+Energy+Regulatory+Commission" style="color: black;">Federal Energy Regulatory Commission</a> ordered further inquiry into allegations by California officials that <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/El+Paso+Natural+Gas" style="color: black;">El Paso Natural Gas</a> Co., a Houston based subsidiary of <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/El+Paso">El Paso</a> Energy Co., manipulated the natural gas market by keeping supply artificially low, contributing to the high price of electricity in the state. El Paso Energy was one of the Texas firms "grandfathered" by Bush's voluntary emissions standards in Texas. Between 1993 and 1998, El Paso Energy and El Paso Natural Gas PACs gave a total of $8,000 to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns. During the 1999-2000 election cycle, El Paso Energy Corp. and El Paso Natural Gas Co. gave a total of $743,029 to Bush and the GOP -- $460,395 to GOP in soft money, $247,750 to GOP candidates from its PAC, and $34,884 to the Bush campaign from its employees and executives. (www.opensecrets.org; <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Los+Angeles+Times" style="color: black;">Los Angeles Times</a>, 3/30/01; tebb.epenergy.com; Boston Globe, 10/3/99) 

Electricity Wholesalers Reported "Gigantic Earnings Surges" from Energy Crisis. <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/according+to" style="color: black;">According to</a> the Los Angeles Times, several electricity wholesalers to California reported "gigantic earnings surges" for the quarter ended March 31. The following companies, all contributors to Bush, have earned record profits off of the energy crisis in California. (Los Angeles Times, 4/18/01) 

COMPANY TOTAL TO BUSH COMPANY PROFIT 

Enron Corp. Enron is Bush's largest Enron's <a class="tip" href="http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/operating+income" style="color: black;">operating income</a> was 

career patron, giving at $406 million in the first 

least $563,000 for his quarter of 2001, compared 

campaigns, including his with $338 million in the 

1978 House campaign. same period last year, a 20% 

(<a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/San+Diego" style="color: black;">San Diego</a> Union-Tribune, increase.(Los Angeles Times, 

2/11/01) 4/18/01) 

Reliant Steven Ledbetter, <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/CEO" style="color: black;">CEO</a> of Reliant Energy's operating 

Energy Reliant, was a Bush profit for the first quarter 

"Pioneer," and raised more of 2001 rose 35% from $341 

than $100,000 for Bush's million to $460 million in 

campaign and gave $100,000 same quarter the following 

to Bush's inaugural year. (Los Angeles Times, 

committee. 4/18/01) 

(www.opensecrets.org) 

Dynegy Inc. In 1999-2000, Dynegy gave Dynegy Inc.'s operating 

more than $127,000 to income increased 40%, 

Bush's campaign, the GOP improving from $182 million 

and Bush's inaugural fund. last year to $255 million 

(www.opensecrets.org) in the first three months of 

2001. (Los Angeles Times, 

4/18/01) 

Duke Energy In 1999-2000, Duke Energy Duke Energy Corp. had a 63% 

Corp gave more than $62,000 to increase in first-quarter 

Bush's campaign and to the <a class="tip" href="http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Operating+Profit" style="color: black;">operating profit</a> of 2001, 

GOP. (www.opensecrets.org) jumping to $554 million from 

$339 million a year ago. 

(Los Angeles Times, 4/18/01) 

TOTAL $952,000 in Donations $475 Million in Profits 

Eight Out of 11 Western Governors, Including Davis, Supported Wholesale Price Caps on Electricity; Abraham Rejected Proposal. On February 2, 2001, at a meeting of the Western Governors' Association, eight out of 11 Western governors, including 5 Republicans and Democrat Gray Davis from California, said they wanted wholesale prices for electricity capped throughout the region. Attendees said they supported a cap that would reimburse suppliers for <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/operating+costs" style="color: black;">operating costs</a> and permit profits of 15% to 25% above that amount, according to the Wall Street Journal. The cap would be lifted when enough power was available to create a truly competitive market among the 11 Western states that are electrically interconnected. In the meeting, Energy Secretary <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Spencer+Abraham" style="color: black;">Spencer Abraham</a> rejected their requests for caps on wholesale energy prices. (Wall St. Journal, 2/5/01; Associated Press, 2/3/01) 

3 - BUSH PROPOSED DRILLING IN PRISTINE ARCTIC <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/wildlife+refuge" style="color: black;">WILDLIFE REFUGE</a>  

Bush Proposed Opening <a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/ANWR" style="color: black;">ANWR</a> To Oil Companies. During the presidential campaign, Bush said he advocated drilling in the environmentally sensitive Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR), saying "I think we ought to be exploring in ANWR." In a March 29 press conference, Bush restated his support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Bush said, "I think it's important for us to open up ANWR. Whether or not the Congress sees it that way is another matter." Bush also said, "there's gas in our hemisphere. I'd like it to be American gas." (Bush press conference in Canton, OH, 6/16/00; Associated Press, 3/29/01) 

Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Would Yield Small Amount of Oil with Potentially Devastating Effects. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would have a detrimental effect on the environment and people there, while only producing enough oil for a six month supply of oil. According to the Financial Times, "Drilling (in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) would affect the 1.5m-acre coastal plain that straddles the border between Alaska and the Yukon, which is the <a class="tip" href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/calving" style="color: black;">calving</a> ground for the <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Porcupine+caribou" style="color: black;">Porcupine caribou</a>. Drilling in the area is fiercely opposed by environmental groups and by the Gwich'in people, the most northerly of the Indian nations, whose way of life is entirely dependent on the Porcupine caribou (named after the area's main river). Any drilling activity would cut the numbers of <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/caribou" style="color: black;">caribou</a>, the Gwich'in say, on which they rely for food, clothing and tools ... " According to an editorial in the Boston Globe, "The US <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Geological+survey" style="color: black;">Geological Survey</a> found that any potential benefit to the drilling -- a 50 percent chance of finding a six- month supply of oil that could not be extracted for nearly 10 years -- is far outweighed by the risks." (Financial Times (London), 1/27/01; editorial, Boston Globe, 2/21/01) 

4 - BUSH PROPOSED DRILLING IN NATIONAL MONUMENTS, PARKS AND OTHER 

ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS 

NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND PARKS: 

National Monuments Have Potential for Drilling. In an interview with the Denver Post, Bush said that there was room in the nation's national monuments for oil drilling. "There are parts of the monument lands where we can explore without affecting the overall environment. ... It depends upon the cost- benefit ratio," Bush said. Later in the interview Bush said his administration would look at "all public lands" for energy development. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham echoed Bush's call to review national monuments for potential drilling. (Denver Post, 3/15/01;<a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/CNN" style="color: black;">CNN</a>, "<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Late+Edition+with+Wolf+Blitzer" style="color: black;">Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer</a>," 4/1/01) 

Interior Secretary <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Gale+Norton" style="color: black;">Gale Norton</a> Spoke of Drilling in Lewis and Clark 

National Forest. In 1997, the US Forest Service declared an area of 

the <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Lewis+and+Clark+National+Forest" style="color: black;">Lewis and Clark National Forest</a>, the Overthrust Belt, off limits 

to drilling. This area spans parts of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and 

Utah. Secretary Norton encouraged drilling in the Overthrust Belt. 

"We want to ensure that energy production is taking place in those 

areas where the environment can most tolerate that. One of the areas 

that would be studied as part of an across-the-board look at energy 

resources would be the Overthrust Belt," said Norton. 

(Associated Press, 2/12/01) 

Norton Sent Letter to States Asking for Uses of National Monuments. Interior Secretary Norton sent letters to state and local officials in nine states and one territory where national monuments are located. In this letter, Norton asked officials for suggestions on how their federal lands should be used and managed. "Are there boundary adjustments that the department should consider recommending? Are there existing uses inside these monuments that we should accommodate? I would like to know your views on vehicle use, access to private (land) inholdings, rights-of-way, grazing and water rights, as well as the wide spectrum of other traditional multiple uses," Norton asked in one letter to Arizona Governor Jane Hill. The other letters were sent to officials in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/New+Mexico" style="color: black;">New Mexico</a>, <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/New+York" style="color: black;">New York</a>, Oregon, Washington and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (USA Today, 3/29/01) 

<a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Great+Lakes" style="color: black;">GREAT LAKES</a>: 

Abraham Ignored Questions About Drilling in Great Lakes. U.S. Representative <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Bart+Stupak" style="color: black;">Bart Stupak</a> wrote a memo to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham last month, asking whether Abraham supported drilling for oil and gas under the Great Lakes. Abraham has yet to answer. Stupak and other Democrats seemed to be "fighting a losing battle" against drilling there. The <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Michigan+Department+of+Natural+Resources" style="color: black;">Michigan Department of Natural Resources</a> recommended that Gov. <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/John+Engler" style="color: black;">John Engler</a> lift the leasing restrictions he imposed in 1997, which prohibited new drilling until a study was completed. Engler supported the <a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/DNR" style="color: black;">DNR</a> recommendation and could approve lifting the ban as early as July. (<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Calgary+Herald" style="color: black;">Calgary Herald</a>, 4/12/01) 

OFF-SHORE DRILLING IN <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gulf+of+Mexico" style="color: black;">GULF OF MEXICO</a>: 

Interior Department Wanted to Drill in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite criticism from Governor <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Jeb+Bush" style="color: black;">Jeb Bush</a>, the Bush administration decided to continue with its plan for off-shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter from Norton to Jeb Bush, Norton wrote that the final decision would not be until October, but drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would help the nation's energy needs. Norton also said the Interior Department would move ahead as planned and issue a final environmental impact statement in June and a lease sale proposal in July. The Los Angeles Times reported that oil and gas interests lobbied the Administration to allow drilling in a 6-million-acre expanse off the coasts of Florida and Georgia that they believe holds rich reservoir of natural gas. (Energy Daily, 4/19/01; Los Angeles Times, 4/17/01) 

Gov. Jeb Bush Asked President Bush To Cancel Oil Exploration Plans in Gulf of Mexico. In a one-page letter, Jeb Bush asked the Interior Department to cancel its plan to open portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. Jeb Bush wrote, "I am confident the new administration will recognize the need to protect sensitive natural resources located both offshore, and along Florida's coastline, for the benefit of the entire nation." (Gannett News Service, 1/24/01; AP Online, 1/26/01) 

5 - BUSH'S ENERGY TASK FORCE HAS SECRET MEETINGS TO DECIDE 

NATION'S ENERGY POLICY 

Bush Appointed Former Oil Executives To Head Energy Task Force. On January 29th, President Bush appointed an energy task force with ties to the oil and energy industries. The head of the task force is Vice President Dick Cheney, who is the former chief executive officer of Halliburton, the oil services giant. Members include, former oil company CEO and Commerce Secretary Don Evans; Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham who took nearly a half a million dollars in political contributions from the oil and energy sectors during his 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate in Michigan; and Interior Secretary Gale Norton who received nearly $800,000 from the oil and energy sectors during her 1996 run for the U.S. Senate in Colorado. Norton has been criticized for advocating policies that would benefit energy interests over environmental interests. (<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Center+for+Responsive+Politics" style="color: black;">Center for Responsive Politics</a>, www.crp.org; New York Times, 1/30/01) 

Bush Energy Task Force "Something of a Secret Society." According 

to the Washington Post, "The Bush administration's energy task force 

is something of a secret society. At the start of each meeting with 

outside groups, task-force members request that the session be off 

the record. They say they will share no documents, to prevent 

information from leaking. The members are expected not to talk to 

the media, and the few who do are not able to talk about 

policy ... " (Washington Post, 4/16/01) 

Task Force Won't Meet With Environmental Groups. According to the 

Washington Post, "Environmental groups complain that Cheney won't 

meet with their leaders while the vice president sits down with a 

parade of industry officials. The nation's powerful environmental 

lobby is ready to pounce on any report that will shift policy from 

conservation toward increased energy production -- a central 

argument of the Bush report." (Washington Post, 4/16/01) 

6 - BUSH'S TRANSITION TEAMS 

Energy Interests Dominated Bush Transition Energy Advisory Team. Big energy and oil firms dominated the Bush transition's Energy Advisory Team, having contributed $857,232 to the Republican Party and Bush during the campaign. (Center for Responsive Politics, www.crp.org) 

Almost Two-Thirds of Bush's Energy Transition Team Worked for Energy Industry. Out of the 48 members of the Bush Energy Department transition team, 31, or almost two-thirds, worked for the energy industry: 

NAME EMPLOYER 

<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Brian+Bennett" style="color: black;">Brian Bennett</a>  Southern California Edison 

Robert Card Kaiser Hill 

Steve Chancellor Black Beauty Coal Company 

Joe Colvin Nuclear Energy Institute 

Don <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Duncan+Phillips" style="color: black;">Duncan Phillips</a> Petroleum Company 

<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Tom+Farrell" style="color: black;">Tom Farrell</a>  Dominion Energy 

Gay Friedman Interstate Natural Gas Association of America 

Jack Gerrard National Mining Association 

J. Roger Hirl Occidental Chemical Corporation 

Hunter Hunt Hunt Power, L.P. 

Jerry Jordan Independent Petroleum Association of America 

Buddy Kleemeier Kaiser Francis Oil Company 

Tom Kuhn <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Edison+Electric+Institute" style="color: black;">Edison Electric Institute</a>  

Ken Lay Enron 

Albee Modiano U.S. Oil and Gas Association 

David N. Parker American Gas Association 

C.J. "Pete" Silas <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Phillips+Petroleum+Company" style="color: black;">Phillips Petroleum Company</a>  

Gary Ellsworth USEC, Inc. 

Buck Harless International Industries 

Stephanie Kroger Mayor, Day, Caldwell & Keeton 

(lobbies for companies in oil 

and gas industries; www.mdck.com) 

Joe Farley Balch & Bingham (lobbying firm 

which focuses on managing and 

operating utilities of all kind; 

www.balch.com) 

Bill Martin Washington Policy and Analysis 

(lobbying firm which represents 

American Gas Association; 

www.influenceonline.net) 

The Honorable Howard Baker Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell 

(lobbying firm dealing with 

energy industry; 

www.bakerdonelson.com) 

Erle Nye <a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/TXU" style="color: black;">TXU</a> Electric and Gas Corporation 

Gregg Renkes The Renkes Group 

(lobbies for members of industry, 

including Edison Electric Institute; 

www.influenceonline.net) 

Dick Silverman S.R.P. 

Matt Simmons Simmons & Co. International 

John Tuck Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell 

(lobbying firm dealing with 

energy industry; 

www.bakerdonelson.com) 

<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Daniel+Yergin" style="color: black;">Daniel Yergin</a>  <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Cambridge+Energy+Research+Associates" style="color: black;">Cambridge Energy Research Associates</a>  

The Honorable Thomas C. Merritt Merritt Tool Company, Inc. 

(Oilfield Service Business; 

Inside F.E.R.C.'s Gas Market Report, 

5/5/95) 

John Wootten Peabody Group 

Coal Executive, Irl Engelhardt was an Energy Advisor to the Bush-Cheney Transition, gave $100,000 to Inaugural Fund. Irl Engelhardt of Peabody Group, Inc. served as an energy advisor on the Bush-Cheney transition. During 1999- 2000 the Peabody Group gave $250,000 to the Republican National Committee, and Irl Englehardt personally gave $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural fund. (Washington Post, 3/25/01; www.crp.org) 

7 - APPOINTMENTS 

Bush has filled the top levels of his Administration with numerous representatives from the energy industry, including: 

NAME NEW POSITION FORMER OCCUPATION MONEY 

Condoleeza Rice National Served on the Board In 1999-2000, 

Security of Directors of Chevron Chevron gave 

Adviser from 1991-2000. Chevron $758,588 to GOP 

also named an oil candidates and 

tanker after her. committees. 

(Hart's Africa Oil and (www.crp.org) 

Gas, 1/29/01) 

Gale Norton Secretary Prominent member of In her 1996 bid 

of the <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Mountain+states" style="color: black;">Mountain States</a> Legal for US Senate, 

Interior Foundation, which Norton received 

received donations from $28,570 from 

175 corporations, oil and gas 

including Exxon, Amoco, companies, the 

Phillips 66, Marathon second largest 

Oil, Ford Motor Company total from any 

and Chevron. (Friends industry. 

of the Earth Press (www.crp.org) 

Release, 1/2/01) 

Dick Cheney Vice Former CEO of Halliburton 

President Halliburton, the gave $425,188 

world's largest oil to GOP 

field service company. candidates in 

(Los Angeles Times, the 2000 

4/3/01) election cycle. 

(www.crp.org) 

<a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/John+Graham" style="color: black;">John Graham</a>  Administrator A Harvard professor 

of the who received funding 

Office of for his research on 

Information regulatory issues from 

and companies such as Dow, 

Regulatory DuPont, Monsanto 

Affairs and Exxon. 

in <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/OMB" style="color: black;">OMB</a>  (Boston Globe, 3/13/01) 

Kathleen Cooper Under <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Chief+economist" style="color: black;">Chief economist</a> and Cooper gave 

Secretary manager of economics $11,750 to GOP 

of Commerce at Exxon Mobile Corp. committees and 

for Economic (Houston Chronicle, $1,000 to the 

Affairs 3/17/01) Bush campaign. 

(www.tray.com; 

www.crp.org) 

Jessie Hill Assistant Member of the Defense 

Roberson Secretary Nuclear Facilities Safety 

of Energy Board and the DOE's 

for Manager of the Rocky Flats 

Environmental Field Office. She also 

Management held positions with 

Georgia Power Company 

and DuPont. (<a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/FDCH" style="color: black;">FDCH</a> Federal 

Department and Agency 

Documents, 3/22/01) 

Francis Blake Deputy Served as GE's Senior GE gave $5000 

Energy Vice President for to Bush's 

Secretary Business Development presidential 

and also as Vice campaign and 

President and General $100,000 to 

Counsel for GE Power Bush's 

Systems. (FT Asia Inaugural 

Intelligence Wire, Fund. 

6/28/00; (www.crp.org) 

www.gepower.com; 

White House Press 

Release, 3/21/01) 

Samuel Bodman Deputy CEO of Cabot Corp, Bodman gave 

Commerce a chemical producer $1000 to Bush's 

Secretary that was grandfathered presidential 

under then-Gov. Bush's campaign and 

voluntary emissions $20,000 to GOP 

plan and was the 4th committees. 

highest source of (www.tray.org) 

grandfathered emissions 

in Texas. 

(www.cabot-corp.com; 

Austin American-Statesman, 

4/27/99; Business Week, 

3/10/01) 

Vicki Bailey Assistant President of PSI Cinergy/PSI 

Secretary Energy, a subsidiary gave $292,415 

of Energy of Cinergy. to GOP 

for (Gas Daily, 3/28/01) committees and 

International candidates in 

Affairs and 1999-2000. 

Domestic (www.tray.com) 

Policy 

J Stephen Griles Deputy Deputy director of the In 1998, <a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/NES" style="color: black;">NES</a>  

Interior Office of Surface grossed 

Secretary Mining under James Watt $1 million 

and currently serves from 

as Vice President of representing 

National Environmental oil, chemical 

Strategies, a lobbying and mining 

firm representing the industries. 

oil, chemical and (www.crp.org) 

mining industries. 

(<a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/ENN" style="color: black;">ENN</a>, 3/9/01; 

www.lcv.org) 

Deborah Daniels Assistant Registered in Indiana 

Attorney as a lobbyist for 

General businesses including 

Cinergy Corp. (Indiana 

State Lobbying 

Registrations, 1997-2000) 

8 - BUSH'S BUDGET 

Bush's Budget Cut $700 Million Renewable Energy Funds. President Bush's budget cut $700 million from the Department of Energy, much of it coming from renewable energy research and environmental cleanups. (USA Today, 3/1/01; www.crp.org) 

Bush's Budget Cut Funding for Research in Producing More Efficient Cars and Trucks. Bush's budget cut $39 million from a research partnership with the Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler looking for ways to produce cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks. The $39 million cut was a 28 percent drop in funding. (WP, 4/10/01) 

Bush's Budget Cut Funding for Research on Adverse Effects of Energy Production. Bush's budget cut funding for the Biological and Environmental Research (<a class="tip" href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/BER" style="color: black;">BER</a>) Program by about $39.6 million. The BER program "develops the knowledge needed to identify, understand and mitigate the adverse health and environmental consequences of energy production, development, and use." (FY2002 Department of Energy budget, p. 27, 4/9/01) 

9 - AIR CONDITIONER EFFICIENCY 

Bush Relaxed Clinton Rule On Air Conditioner Efficiency. The Bush administration announced that it would block a rule issued by the Clinton administration requiring new central air-conditioners to be 30 percent more efficient, instead requiring that they be 20 percent more efficient. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said energy conservation goals needed to be balanced against the need to minimize "future price increases on consumers, particularly low-income consumers." However, according to the Energy Department, the retail price difference between models meeting the 30 percent standard is about $123 for an appliance that generally costs $2,000 to $4,000. The extra cost would be covered by the savings in energy over about 15 months of its 18-year average life, according to the department. State governments in New York, California and Texas, worried about meeting summer electricity demands, had supported the 30 percent standard, according to the New York Times. (New York Times, 4/14/01; Dept. of Energy Press Release, 4/13/01) 

10 - NUCLEAR POWER 

Cheney Advocated Nuclear Power, said "We've Still Got a Waste Storage Problem," Nuclear Waste Industry Gave $320,100 to Bush, Almost $1.2 Million to GOP. On March 21, 2001, Vice President Cheney defended nuclear power, saying, "if you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions, then you ought to build nuclear power plants. They don't emit any carbon dioxide. They don't emit greenhouse gases. But, of course, there's been no permit granted for a nuclear power plant in this country since 1975. There are none under construction today and haven't been for a very long time. Today, nuclear power produces 20 percent of our electricity, but that's going to go down over time because some of these plants are wearing out. We've still got a waste storage problem. The spent fuel is stacking up at these reactors all over the country." Cheney headed the energy task force which will decide the Administration's energy policy, including standards for the disposal of nuclear waste. During 1999-2000 the nuclear waste industry gave $320,100 to Bush and $1,180,553 to GOP candidates and committees. (Las Vegas Review- Journal, 10/11/00; <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Las+Vegas+Review-Journal" style="color: black;">Las Vegas Review-Journal</a>, 2/9/01; Hardball With Chris Matthews, 3/21/01) 

RECIPE FOR A BUSH QUID PRO QUO 

CREATE SPECIAL INTEREST PAYOFFS IN FOUR EASY STEPS 

One of the defining themes of George W. Bush's first 100 days as President has been the extraordinary access and influence by campaign contributors in his Administration. How do these special interests get such ready access? The first step started in 1999 when the Bush campaign had their big fundraisers code campaign contributions (totaling over $100 million) by industry, and promising to give the industries "credit" when Bush was elected. Then, Bush appointed those same top donors and fundraisers to key positions on the transition team and throughout his administration. Finally, using the access their millions in campaign contributions bought, they have helped shape federal policy to benefit the interests they represent. 

Attached is a case study of how the Bush Quid Pro Quo system works. Tom Kuhn -- Bush's former Yale classmate and President of Edison Electric Institute -- the electric utility industry's lobbying arm was instrumental in raising millions for the Bush campaign. His investment has already paid big dividends: Kuhn has been granted unfettered access to top Bush officials, had allies appointed to top posts and has influenced government policy. The case of Tom Kuhn clearly demonstrates four easy steps many Bush contributors have taken, and will surely take in the future, to get their very own quid pro quo: 

STEP ONE: 

HIRE AIDES WHO KNOW HOW TO CODE CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDUSTRY 

STEP TWO: 

GIVE "CREDIT" TO SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES FOR CONTRIBUTIONS, 

USE INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE TO RAISE MILLIONS 

STEP THREE: 

GRANT INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE ACCESS TO NEW ADMINISTRATION 

STEP FOUR: 

BREAK CAMPAIGN PROMISE AFTER LOBBYING BY INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE 

STEP ONE: 

HIRE AIDES WHO KNOW HOW TO CODE CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDUSTRY 

In 1995, Future-Bush Campaign Aides Created "Tactical PAC" Project to Track Contributions for <a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/NRCC" style="color: black;">NRCC</a>. In 1995 and 1996, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman and then-Rep. Bill Paxon and his executive director, Maria Cino, created the "Tactical PAC" project, which tracked contributions of lobbyists to members of Congress. One of the ways they tracked contributions was by industry. During the 2000 campaign, Cino served as George W. Bush's political director and Paxon served as a senior advisor to the campaign. (CNN, "Capital Gang," 12/18/99; AP Online, 12/9/99; Sacramento Bee, 11/14/99) 

* Paxon Ranked Industry PACs Based on Contributions, Used Data to 

"Banish" Unfriendly Lobbyists. As NRCC chairman in 1995-1996, Paxon 

distributed a report to House Republicans documenting how much money 

each of the 400 largest PACs had given to Democrats and Republicans. 

Paxon classified the PACs under three categories -- "friendly," 

"unfriendly," and "neutral." Republicans used the report during 

meetings with lobbyists, banishing "unfriendly" ones from the room. 

Paxon himself typically asked business leaders, "Why do you support 

the enemy?" (Sacramento Bee, 11/14/99 (emphasis added)) 

* "Tactical PAC" Reports Distributed to Lobbyists & PAC Directors; 

Lobbyists Felt Intimidated. Paxon's "Tactical PAC" reports were 

distributed to lobbyists and PAC directors as well as GOP members of 

Congress. Some recipients, including Mortgage Bankers Association 

lobbyist Michael Ferrell, found the pressure inappropriate. "It's 

nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt at intimidation," Ferrell 

said. "They have one message, and one intent: to force PACs to give 

to Republican candidates and incumbents regardless of whether they 

were good members or not." Another lobbyist said, "It seems clear 

that the House leadership wants to know who their friends and 

enemies are. ... They want a clearer sense of accounting, so when 

someone walks in they will know -- are they a friend or are they a 

foe? They want to be much more responsive to those considered 

friendly." (AP, 12/7/95 (emphasis added)) 

* House Majority Whip Tom Delay Confronted Lobbyists with Donation 

Levels; Tactics Prompted Ethics Complaint. House Majority Whip Tom 

DeLay -- nicknamed "The Hammer" for his bold fundraising tactics -- 

used the Paxon-prepared list to determine which lobbyists were 

granted access to the GOP. DeLay has been known to greet lobbyists 

with the book, thumbing through it and saying, "See you're in the 

book," DeLay's tactics prompted the non-partisan Congressional 

Accountability Project to file an ethics complaint against DeLay, 

contending that he may have improperly linked campaign financing to 

official actions. (Washington Post, 11/27/95; Austin American 

Statesman, 9/7/96; www.georgewbush.com) 

STEP TWO: 

GIVE "CREDIT" TO SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES FOR CONTRIBUTIONS, 

USE INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE TO RAISE MILLIONS 

Starting in 1999, Bush Campaign Used Electric Utility Industry Executive Tom Kuhn as "Conduit of Information" to Industry Contributors. Starting in early 1999, the Bush administration used Tom Kuhn, Bush's Yale classmate and president of Edison Electric the Edison Electric Institute, the lobbying arm of the electric-utility industry, to keep in touch with industry executives. Kuhn coordinated a Bush fund-raising group calling itself "Association and Industry CEOs" for Bush. "I'm kind of a conduit of information from the campaign to trade associations," said Kuhn of his involvement. "It's a group that stays active with conference calls." During the 2000 campaign, the heads of two-dozen trade associations held regular conference calls on how to help Bush while urging their members to contribute to the Bush campaign. (National Journal, 8/7/99 (emphasis added); Newsweek, 1/24/00) 

Kuhn Was a Bush "Pioneer," Edison Gave Over $484,000 to GOP During 1999- 2000, $20,000 to GOP in January 2001. Kuhn served as a Bush "Pioneer," a title given to those who raised at least $100,000 for the Bush campaign. Through 2000, Kuhn had personally given $8,200 to Bush campaigns, Republican candidates and committees, and on January 29, 2001, gave $3,760 to the <a class="tip" href="http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/RNC" style="color: black;">RNC</a>. (www.tpj.org; www.tray.com; Newsweek, 3/26/01) 

* Edison Electric Donated Almost $485,000 to GOP. Edison Electric 

donated $484,775 in soft money to the Republican Party during 1999- 

2000 and, most recently, gave $20,000 to the RNC on January 25, 

2001. (www.tpj.org; www.tray.com; Newsweek, 3/26/01) 

Kuhn Sent Memo to Electric Executives Urging Them to Include a "Tracking Code" to "Insure That Our Industry is Credited." The Bush campaign assigned industry-specific "tracking codes" to make sure industries are "credited" for their contributions. Newsweek obtained an internal memo written by Kuhn which, according to the magazine, "reminded power-company executives to include the industry's tracking code on the bottom of their checks for a Bush fund-raiser." The memo, written on Bush stationary in May 1999, stated: "It does ensure that our industry is credited, and that your progress is listed among the other business/industry sectors." The memo did not explain how donors would receive "credit" for their contributions. (Newsweek, 1/24/00 (emphasis added)) 

* Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Then Bush's Head Fund-Raiser, Stressed 

Importance of Industry Tracking. The memorandum written by Kuhn 

stresses how Commerce Secretary Don Evans, who served as both 

fundraising and campaign chairman for the Bush campaign, stressed 

the importance of tracking by industry. According to the 

memorandum: "As you know, a very important part of the campaign's 

outreach to the business community is the use of tracking numbers 

for contributions ... Both Don Evans and Jack Oliver have stressed 

the importance of having our industry incorporate the #1178 tracking 

number in your fundraising efforts." (Newsweek, 1/24/00 (emphasis 

added); www.whitehouse.gov) 

STEP THREE: 

GRANT INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE ACCESS TO NEW ADMINISTRATION 

Kuhn Was Able to Call "Senior White House Aides" to Urge Bush to Back Off Carbon Dioxide Emissions Pledge. Prior to President Bush's decision on whether to seek caps on carbon dioxide emissions were "two weeks of ferocious lobbying by energy interests, mainly oil, coal and, in the person of Kuhn, the electric utilities ... Kuhn called senior White House aides to urge that Bush back away from the emissions cap." (Newsweek, 3/26/01 (emphasis added)) 

Kuhn Served on Bush's Energy Department Transition Advisory Team. Tom Kuhn was appointed by Bush to serve on the administration's Energy Department transition advisory team. (www.leadershipdirectories.org) 

Bush Appointed Deputy Secretary of the Interior Who Lobbied for Edison Electric During 1997-1998. Bush's nominee as Deputy Secretary of the Interior <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/J.+Steven+Griles" style="color: black;">J. Steven Griles</a>, is the vice president of National Environmental Strategies, a lobbying firm whose clients included the Edison Electric Institute. During 1997 and 1998 Edison Electric Institute paid $140,000 to National Environmental Strategies for lobbying on issues of clean air and water quality. Griles was one of two National Environmental Strategies lobbyists registered as working for Edison. (ENN, 3/9/01; www.lcv.org; www.crp.org) 

STEP FOUR: 

BREAK CAMPAIGN PROMISE AFTER LOBBYING BY INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE 

George W. Bush Broke his Campaign Promise and Reversed Stand on Carbon Dioxide Emissions Which Kuhn had Lobbied Against. During the campaign, Bush pledged to "work to make our air cleaner" while promoting electricity and renewable energy. "With the help of Congress, environmental groups and industry we will require all power plants to meet clean air standards in order to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide within a reasonable period of time," Bush said. However, in a March 2001, letter to Republican Senators, Bush said he decided to back off his campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Bush's administration had been lobbied by Tom Kuhn, as well as the coal and oil industries. "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act," Bush wrote in his letter. (Bush speech, "A Comprehensive National Energy Policy," 9/29/00, Saginaw, MI; Bush letter to Senator Chuck Hagel, 3/13/01) 

OTHER POSSIBLE PAYBACKS TO KUHN 

Public Citizen Claimed Kuhn's Ties to Bush Contributed to "Hands-Off" Approach to California Energy Crisis. In February 2000 the watchdog group Public Citizen claimed that President Bush was ignoring the California energy crisis as a payback to the electric utility industry. "There is a plausible explanation for Bush's hands-off policy -- it enriches 10 power suppliers that contributed $4.1 million to Republican candidates and committees in the 2000 election," Public Citizen said in a report, entitled, "Got Juice?: Bush's Refusal to End California Electricity Price Gouging Enriches Texas Friends and Big Contributors." The report cited Bush's ties to Kuhn among the suspicious ties. (The Energy Report, 2/26/01 (emphasis added)) 

* Eight Out of 11 Western Governors, Including 5 Republicans, 

Supported Wholesale Price Caps on Electricity. On February 2, 2001, 

at a meeting of the Western Governors' Association, eight out of 11 

Western governors, including 5 Republicans, said they wanted 

wholesale prices for electricity capped throughout the region. Gov. 

Gary Locke (D-WA), urged federal regulators to enact price controls 

now, saying, "Otherwise, we will be expected to endure unjustified 

high prices for years to come ... It's a survival issue." Attendees 

said they supported a cap that would reimburse suppliers for 

operating costs and permit profit of 15% to 25% above that amount, 

according to the Wall Street Journal. The cap would be lifted when 

enough power was available to create a truly competitive market 

among the 11 Western states that are electrically interconnected. 

(Wall St. Journal, 2/5/01 (emphasis added)) 

* Energy Secretary Abraham Met With Western Governors, Rejected 

Wholesale Price Caps. On February 2, 2001, Governors from 10 

western states and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham met to discuss 

the California energy crisis, as the state entered the 18th straight 

day of its power crisis, and rejected their requests for caps on 

wholesale energy prices. The conference included California 

Governor Gray Davis in addition to governors from Alaska, Arizona, 

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. But 

while several governors said the federal government should step in 

to regulate wholesale energy prices, Abraham rejected the idea, 

saying President Bush recognized "the seriousness of the challenges 

and the urgency with which we must face these challenges ... We must 

develop policies that will support access to a reliable energy 

supply ... America's national security as well as our economic 

security is dependent on our energy security." Washington Gov. Gary 

Locke said, "Every month 1.5 billion dollars is draining out of our 

region and that is having a devastating impact on our economy ... We 

need immediate relief ... What we're talking about is the full cost 

of generating the energy plus a reasonable profit ... These prices 

we are seeing are completely unjustified." (Agence France Presse, 

2/2/01; AP, 2/3/01; Scripps Howard, 2/3/01 (emphasis added)) 

Edison Electric Has Lobbied to Send Nuclear Waste to Yucca Mountain. In 1992, the Edison Electric board approved the so-called Nevada Initiative, which was, "an industry advertising campaign aimed at building public support for (the Department of Energy's) study of the proposed repository site at Yucca Mountain," according to Nuclear Fuel. (<a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/UPI" style="color: black;">UPI</a>, 4/21/87; Nuclear Fuel, 2/3/92; Newsweek, 1/24/00; Journal of Commerce, 11/9/87) 

* Cheney Advocated Nuclear Power, said "We've Still Got a Waste 

Storage Problem," Heads Task Force Deciding on Waste Disposal. On 

March 21, 2001, Vice President Cheney defended nuclear power, 

saying, "if you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions, 

then you ought to build nuclear power plants. They don't emit any 

carbon dioxide. They don't emit greenhouse gases ... We've still got 

a waste storage problem. The spent fuel is stacking up at these 

reactors all over the country. But if you're really serious about 

greenhouse gases, one of the solutions to that problem is to go back 

and let's take another look at nuclear power, use that to generate 

electricity without having the adverse consequences." Cheney is 

currently leading a task force to decide Administration energy 

policy, including standards for the disposal of nuclear waste. (Las 

Vegas Review-Journal, 10/11/00; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2/9/01; 

Hardball With Chris Matthews, 3/21/01) 

* Energy Secretary Abraham Sponsored Bill to Establish Nuclear Waste 

Storage at Yucca Mountain, Will Oversee 23 Nuclear Waste Disposal 

Sites in 10 States. While in the Senate, Energy Secretary Abraham 

sponsored the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 (S 104), which aimed 

to establish an above-ground interim storage site for high-level 

nuclear waste near Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Environmentalists believe 

an interim storage site near Yucca Mountain would likely bias a 

decision to build a permanent repository in the area, despite 

findings of more than 30 earthquake faults in the Yucca Mountain 

vicinity and the possibility of groundwater contamination. The bill 

would have weakened environmental standards for nuclear waste 

disposal, relaxed allowable radiation exposure standards at the site 

and placed dangerous radioactive waste on the nation's roads and 

railways without adequate safety standards, according to the League 

of Conservation Voters (LCV). As Secretary of Energy Abraham will 

oversee programs <a class="tip" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/To+dispose+of" style="color: black;">to dispose of</a> radioactive waste left from the 

research and production of nuclear weapons. Waste from the program 

is shipped to 23 major disposal sites in 10 different states. 

(www.lcv.org; www.opensecrets.org; <a class="tip" rel="nofollow" href="http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/San+Francisco+Chronicle" style="color: black;">San Francisco Chronicle</a>, 1/30/01; 

Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2/9/01; www.energy.gov)<a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DNC%3A+Special+Interests+Write+Bush+Energy+Policy.-a074010886">http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DNC%3A+Special+Interests+Write+Bush+Energy+Policy.-a074010886</a>
=<a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=kenneth_starr_1">http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=kenneth_starr_1</a><div>
<div class="iT" style="width: 524.799987792969px; display: table; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);"><h2 style="margin: 3px 0px 0px; width: 400px; float: left;"><a href="http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=the_bush_administration_s_environmental_record_228#the_bush_administration_s_environmental_record_228" title="View in context" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">February 22, 2002: GAO Sues White House for Task Force Energy Information</a></h2></div>

David Walker, comptroller of the General Accounting Office (GAO) and a Ronald Reagan appointee, files a lawsuit to compel Vice President Dick Cheney and his office to reveal the names of the private businessmen and organizational officials that his energy task force (see <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a012901cheneytaskforceforms" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">January 29, 2001</a>) met with to craft the Bush administration’s energy policies (see <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/item.jsp?item=a050801gaoinvestigate" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">May 8, 2001</a>). This is the first time since its creation in 1920 that the GAO has been forced to file suit to compel another government agency to follow the law and cooperate with its requests. <cite style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: normal; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0-316-00023-X/centerforcoop-20" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">DEAN, 2004, PP. 78-79</a>]</cite>
 In a statement, Walker writes: “This is the first time that GAO has filed suit against a federal official in connection with a records access issue. We take this step reluctantly. Nevertheless, given GAO’s responsibility to Congress and the American people, we have no other choice. Our repeated attempts to reach a reasonable accommodation on this matter have not been successful. Now that the matter has been submitted to the judicial branch, we are hopeful that the litigation will be resolved expeditiously. <cite style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: normal; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">[<a href="http://www.gao.gov/press/gaostatement0222.pdf" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, 2/22/2002 <img src="http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/pics/icons/pdfbw.png" alt="pdf file" style="border: none;" /></a>]</cite> 
'Fundamental Questions' about Governmental 'Checks and Balances' - Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean will write in 2004: “This was, to say the least, a high-stakes lawsuit. It raised fundamental questions about the very nature of our system of checks and balances. If the GAO could not get the information it requested, then there was a black hole in the federal firmament—a no-man’s land where a president and vice president could go free from Congressional oversight.” By random selection, the case lands in the court of Judge John Bates, a career Justice Department lawyer who once worked for the Whitewater investigative team led by Kenneth Starr, and had just recently been appointed to the bench by President Bush. The choice of Bates will prove critical to the verdict of the case. <cite style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: normal; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0-316-00023-X/centerforcoop-20" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">DEAN, 2004, PP. 78-79</a>]</cite> 
Schlafly: Secrecy a 'Mistake' - Conservative commentator and activist Phyllis Schlafly will write in 2002: “[T]he public wants to know how our energy policy was developed. When information is kept secret, the natural inference is that there must be something the administration is very eager to hide. While private businesses and households can be selective about what they tell the world, the American people are not willing to accord the same privacy to public officials paid by the taxpayers. Regardless of the legal veil woven over the energy policy meetings, Cheney’s secrecy is a political mistake.” <cite style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: normal; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">[<a href="http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2002/mar02/02-03-06.shtml" target="blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">EAGLE FORUM, 3/6/2002</a>]</cite><div class="t" style="padding-left: 15px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49);">Entity Tags: <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=kenneth_starr_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Kenneth Starr</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=phyllis_schlafly" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Phyllis Schlafly</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=us_department_of_justice" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">US Department of Justice</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=richard(dick)cheney" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Richard (“Dick”) Cheney</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=john_dean_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">John Dean</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=general_accounting_office" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Government Accountability Office</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=bush_administration" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Bush administration (43)</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=david_walker" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">David Walker</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=george_w._bush" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">George W. Bush</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=energy_task_force" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Energy Task Force</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=john_bates_1" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">John Bates</a>Timeline Tags: <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=the_bush_administration_s_environmental_record" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">US Environmental Record</a>, <a href="http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=civilliberties" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); text-decoration: none;">Civil Liberties</a></div>

</div>

Secret Energy Task Force

Attachments