Griles, S

sold off public lands to energy co's, origin of mtntop removal?

john turner ceo conserv fund pal of DC dumped b/c of rw pressure, so JS Griles dep sec int; under watt gut strip mine laws, offshore oil CA fla; oil givaways (strat ignor)

BC era Nat'l Env Strategies lobby coal utility oil; coal bed methane; promised not to meet w. old clients but did, kept getting 284K$/yr from his old firm

---rfk2 C_N<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">ch 7 king coal <span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">mtntop 400k acres wasteland biorich temp forests; current rate 1 mil more in a decade(size of delaware) 115 2,500 tons explosive in WV per day! 115
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">strip mine started in west in 40's to get shallow coal, but used in Appal to get dep, reduce workers, bust unions (120K wVa to 15 ) 116
coal mine and power plants 20mil$ 2000 and another 21 since. unprec access to task force; peabody execs on trans team ; bill has 2b for r&d, 5 days later IPO got 60M more than predicted. wanted to build biggest pwr plant upwind of mammoth cave unesco site and biosphere res; $450K to gop in 3 mos, w Griles ok'd; pol appt w/ no sci bkgd overturned air study.
  ...<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">1/04 conf followed gop fundraiser at Az Biltmore; solicited changes to ESA, Nat Env Pol Act, CAA, access to public land, tort reform organized by coal lobby/DC task force spokesman Jim Sims 129 connaught and griles there 
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">GRILES 1970-81 permitted Va; Buff Ck --> SMCRA, ~, lost 9-0 scotus, but watt appt him to Office of Surface Mining he's reportedly vowed to "turn out the lights"  130 cut staff 1/3, morale down " we tore the agency to hell" Wa Post 130  Dept int RR in 85, got rec'd for oil and gas leases offshore  82K acres for 2.50 ea (17k acres sold for 42.5K then flipped for 37 m 131.  tried to open ANWR CA and Fla coast, hid risks. 89-95 sr vp United Caol ,supervised one of biggest mtntop, 95 formed lobby shop for 40 co's, merged with Nat Env Strats (barbour) : NMAssoc, Dominion, EEI, shell, texaco arch coal etc etc 131  2001 sold client list to NES partner Himmelstein for 1.1 mil in 4 payments so in essence on payroll (dept of Int refused req for info ;sen made him agree not to meet w/ former clients, but met chevron while appt pending (paid 46 mil not to drill off fla coast ?! (helped jeb?) Griles press Fisher at epa to overrule pipeline study, coal-bed methane, met w/ nat'l mining association to lax mtntop; himmel gave party w/ griles and bunch of b of int ppl who reg mining 134 , liberman demanded ethic invest: dept of int Insp Genl said he "did not take ethics seriously" "train wreck waiting to happen" ; he paid $180.  to himmel for dinner. changed stories several times on shell and chevron; rep went to Norton, who closed case.
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Griles at  least 30 WH mtgs, B2 2 w/ rove; met w/ industry 37x on Clear Skies, New Src Rev and CAA rollback, tho Int has no jurisdiction 136 (but he had lobbied on air for 13 co's)
Since 1975 "fill" meant no waste, but Army corps allowed mtntop even tho no authority to 137  Griles pushed EPA on this, tho violates CWA (intent, not explicit).  Chf Judge Haden tossed, but rw 4th circuit upheld change. Griles rewrote EIS, 8 mil $ worth of studies relegated to appendix; 80K people weighed in,but one day after comment period closed, stream buffer rule changed
--rfk
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Inside the Cheney Task Force<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">There is no better example of the corporate cronyism now hijacking American democracy than the White House's cozy relationship with the energy industry. It's hard to find anyone on Bush's staff who does not have extensive corporate connections, but fossil-fuel executives rule the roost. The energy industry contributed more than $48.3 million to Republicans in the 2000 election cycle, with $3 million to Bush. Now the investment has matured. Both Bush and Cheney came out of the oil patch. Thirty-one of the Bush <span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">transition team<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">'s forty-eight members had energy-industry ties. Bush's cabinet and White House staff is an energy-industry dream team -- four cabinet secretaries, the six most powerful White House officials and more than twenty high-level appointees are alumni of the industry and its allies (see "Bush's Energy-Industry All-Stars," on Page 183).
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The potential for corruption is staggering. Take the case of<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">J. Steven Griles,<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> deputy secretary of the Interior Department[under Norton]. During the first Reagan administration, Griles worked directly under James Watt at Interior, where he helped the coal industry evade prohibitions against mountaintop-removal strip mining<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">. In 1989,<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Griles left government to work as a mining executive and then as a lobbyist with National Environmental Strategies, a Washington, D.C., firm that represented the <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">National Mining Association and Dominion<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Resources<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, one of the nation's largest power producers. When Griles got his new job at Interior, the National Mining Association hailed him as "an ally of the industry."<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It's bad enough that a former mining lobbyist was put in charge of regulating mining on public land. But it turns out that Griles is still on the industry's payroll. In 2001, he sold his client base to his partner Marc Himmelstein for four annual payments of $284,000, making Griles, in effect, a continuing partner in the firm.
<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Because Griles was an oil and mining lobbyist, the Senate made him agree in writing that he would avoid contact with his former clients as a condition of his confirmation. Griles has nevertheless repeatedly met with former coal clients to discuss new rules allowing mountaintop mining in Appalachia<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and destructive coal-bed methane drilling in Wyoming. [proto-frack?]He also met with his former oil clients about offshore leases. These meetings prompted Sen. Joseph Lieberman to ask the Interior Department to investigate Griles. With Republicans in control of congressional committees, no subpoenas have interrupted the Griles scandals.
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With its operatives in place, the Bush energy plan became an orgy of industry plunder. Days after his inauguration, Bush launched the National Energy Policy Development Group, chaired by Cheney. For three months, the task force held closed-door meetings with energy-industry representatives - then refused to disclose the names of the participants.[was griles involved?]...<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Big Coal and the Destruction of Appalachia
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Coal companies enjoyed perhaps the biggest payoff. At the West Virginia Coal Association's annual conference in May 2002, president William D. Raney assured 150 industry moguls, "You did everything you could to elect a Republican president." Now, he said, "you are already seeing in his actions the payback."
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Peabody Energy<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, the world's largest coal company and a major contributor to the Bush campaign, was one of the first to cash in. Immediately after his inauguration, Bush appointed two executives from Peabody and one from its Black Beauty subsidiary to his energy advisory team.
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">When the task force released its final report, it recommended accelerating coal production and spending $2 billion in federal subsidies for research to make coal-fired electricity cleaner. Five days later, Peabody issued a public-stock offering, raising $60 million more than analysts had predicted. Company vice president Fred Palmer credited the Bush administration. "I am sure it affected the valuation of the stock," he told the Los Angeles Times.
<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peabody also wanted to build the largest coal-fired power plant in thirty years upwind of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and International Biosphere Reserve. <span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With arm-twisting from Deputy Interior Secretary Steven <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Griles<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and another $450,000 in GOP contributions, Peabody got what it wanted. A<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> study on the air impacts was suppressed, and park scientists<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> who feared that several endangered species might go extinct due to mercury and acid-rain deposits were silenced.
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">At the Senate's request, Griles had signed a "statement of disqualification" on August 1st, 2001, committing himself to avoiding issues affecting his former clients. Three days later, he nevertheless appeared before the <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">West Virginia Coal Association and promised executives that "we will fix the federal rules very soon on water and soil placement."<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> That was fancy language for pushing whole mountaintops into valleys, a practice worth billions to the industry.<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> As a Reagan official, Griles helped devise the practice, which a federal court declared illegal in 2002, after 1,200 miles of streambeds had been filled and 380,000 acres of Appalachian forestlands had been rendered barren moonscapes.
<span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Now Griles was promising his former coal clients he would fix these rules<span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. In May 2002, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers adopted the language recommended by his former client, the National Mining Association. Had Griles not intervened, the practice of mountaintop-removal mining would have been severely restricted. <span style="font-size:18.666666666666664px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Griles also pushed EPA deputy administrator Linda Fisher to overrule career personnel in the agency's Denver office who had given a devastating assessment to a proposal to produce coal-bed methane gas in the <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Powder River basin in Wyoming. <span style="font-size: 18.6666666666667px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Although Griles had recused himself from any discussion of this subject because it would directly enrich his former clients, he worked aggressively behind the scenes on behalf of a proposal to build 51,000 wells. The project will require 26,000 miles of new roads and 48,000 miles of pipeline, and will foul pristine landscapes with trillions of gallons of toxic wastewater.
Blueprint for Plunder....

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href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/environmentsuperfund">Environment/Superfund</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/5671B371-081B-470F-85B2-F85E136C8228">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>10/18/10</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/qep-resources">QEP Resources</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/energynuclear">Energy/Nuclear</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/7A24AF10-05DD-4355-AEA6-1F3AAE3ACC77">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>10/18/10</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/gradient-resources">Gradient Resources</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/energynuclear">Energy/Nuclear</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/E94296DB-FD71-44CF-B0C4-774CCBE12246">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>7/16/10</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/cenovus-energy">Cenovus Energy</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/FDAAB64F-5359-4B0F-9547-25329C44BA1B">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>7/9/10</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/firstenergy-corp">FirstEnergy Corp</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/2C28FFA3-617F-4625-B2B5-787CB2B4FDA9">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>4/13/10</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/us-oil-gas-assn">US Oil & Gas Assn</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/A54E4D7E-9DD4-4A9A-83E7-57475E84920E">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>10/16/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/encana">Encana</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/fuelgasoil">Fuel/Gas/Oil</a>, <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/6CC47505-9728-4F00-BE9C-55F129F303E7">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>10/14/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/ash-grove-cement">Ash Grove Cement</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/F31A4A3F-538F-4081-A2E8-D9D4BDC9093E">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>10/14/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/seagrass-recovery">SEAGRASS RECOVERY</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/environmentsuperfund">Environment/Superfund</a>, <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a>, <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/natural-resources">Natural Resources</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/E9073FA5-5558-4FD7-B940-2F80BB4BDBDB">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>10/14/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/new-west-strategies-llc">NEW WEST STRATEGIES, LLC</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/D5307027-56F5-45C4-B576-6E14B6F7C5ED">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>7/20/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/prb-group">PRB Group</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/energynuclear">Energy/Nuclear</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/11933898-58E5-4BF5-9CEA-CE7561EE19C6">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>7/1/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/vulcan-power-company">Vulcan Power Company</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/environmentsuperfund">Environment/Superfund</a>, <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/taxationinternal-revenue-code">Taxation/Internal Revenue Code</a>, <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/energynuclear">Energy/Nuclear</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/28676E3A-3B7F-4035-8B5F-0D4E6D10F76B">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>6/24/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/shell-oil">Shell Oil</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/energynuclear">Energy/Nuclear</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/DA39B40B-168F-46CA-811B-6EA737E5F0DD">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>4/24/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/purdue-university">Purdue University</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/clean-air-and-water-quality">Clean Air And Water (Quality)</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/533A8D1E-5004-4E2C-8255-D8D731513334">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>1/30/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/sterling-international">Sterling International</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/chemicalschemical-industry">Chemicals/Chemical Industry</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/F3145103-5721-44E5-A71B-B51814ED5860">View registration</a></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>1/8/09</td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies">National Environmental Strategies</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/client/new-generation-biofuels">New Generation Biofuels</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/issue/environmentsuperfund">Environment/Superfund</a></td><td><a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/national-environmental-strategies/C04810A2-7093-4977-9CE3-00694BFE2C3E">View registration</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

---

<div>

1/04 conf folowed gop fundraiser at Az Biltmore; solicited changes to ESA, Nat Env Pol Act, CAA, access to publ land, tort reform organized by coal lobby/DC

task force spkesman Jim Sims 129 connaught and griles there

GRILES 1970-81 permitted Va; Buff Ck --> SMCRA, ~, lost 9-0 scotus, but watt appt him to Office of Surface Mining he's reportedly vowed to "turn out the lights"  130 cut staff 1/3, morale down " we tore the agency to hell" Wa Post 130

Dept int RR in 1985, got rec'd for oil and gas leases offshore  82K acres for 2.50 ea (17k acres sold for $42.5K then flipped for $37 m 131.  tried to open ANWR CA and Fla coast, hid risks. 89-95

sr vp United Coal ,supervised one of

biggest mtntop, 1995 formed lobby shop for 40 co's, merged with Nat Env Strats (barbour) : NMAssoc, Dominon, EEI, shell, texaco arch coal etc etc 131  2001

sold client list to NES partner Himmelstein for $1.1 mil in 4 payments so in essence on payroll (dept of Int refused req for info ;sen made him agree not to

meet w/ former clients, but met chevron while appt pending (paid $46mil not to drill off fla coast ?! (helped jeb?)

Griles press Fisher at epa to overrule

pipeline study, coal-bed methane, met w/ nat'l mining assic to lax mtntop; himmel gave party w/ griles and bunch of b of int ppl who reg mining 134 , liberman

demanded ehtic invest: dept of int Insp Genl said he "did not take ethics seriously" "train wreak waiting to happen" ; he paid $180.  to himmel for dinner.

changed stories several times on shell and chevron; rep went to Norton, who closed case.

Griles at  least 30 WH mtgs, B2 2 w/ rove; met w/ industry 37x on Clear Skies, New Src Rev and CAA rollback, tho Int has no jurisdiction 136 (but he had lobbied on air for 13 co's)

Since 1975 "fill" meant no waste, but Army corps allowed mtntop even tho no authority to 137  Griles pushed EPA on this, tho violates CWA (intent, nit

explicit).  Chf Judge Haden tossed, but rw 4th circuit upheld change. Griles rewrote EIS, 8 mil $ worth of studies relegated to appendix; 80K ppl weighed in,but one day after comment period closed, stream buffer rule changed  rfk2

</div>

==

revolving dr SW:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles" title="J. Steven Griles">J. Steven Griles</a></li>

<li>

<ul>

<li>Government: Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior, where he worked closely with the industries he is supposed to regulate on polluting and exploitive policies like the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Clear_Skies_initiative&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Clear Skies initiative (page does not exist)">Clear Skies initiative</a>. (2001-)</li>

<li>Industry: Lobbyist for coal, energy, oil, gas, mining and manufacturing industries (1989-2001)</li>

<li>Government: In a variety of positions, primarily in the Department of the Interior, Griles worked on policies such as pushing for oil drilling off the coast of California and selling land contracts for oil and shale extraction at give-away prices. (1970-1989)</li><li>
</li>

<li>"A disciple of the infamous <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Lee_Watt&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Lee Watt (page does not exist)">James Lee Watt</a>, for whom he worked in the Reagan years, Griles went on to be a lobbyist for the National Mining Association, Edison Electric, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChevronTexaco" title="ChevronTexaco" class="mw-redirect">Chevron</a>, Occidental Petroleum, and other energy giants. Appointed the overseer of America's 500 million acres of public lands, Griles was hailed by the NMA as 'an ally of the industry,' and the mining association welcomed him as 'a breath of fresh air' -- for polluters, of course, not for us air breathers! Even though he is a public official now, he still draws $284,000 a year from his former lobbying firm, which represents corporations he supposedly regulates. Also, he has continued to meet behind closed doors with his former (and perhaps future) industry clients. The inspector general is investigating him for the blatant conflicts of interest posed by these meetings, which he had pledged to avoid in a 'recusal agreement' he signed to get his government job."<a href="http://www.utne.com/web_special/web_specials_2004-06/articles/11232-1.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.utne.com/web_special/web_specials_2004-06/articles/11232-1.html" rel="nofollow">[9]</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

---

lots on him in rfk book

lied about working for chevron and -----

----

omb watch

Now confirmed as Deputy Secretary, J. Steven Griles will have broad day-to-day responsibilities for everything from national parks and Indian affairs to mining, logging and mineral exploration on public lands. Griles, a former Reagan Interior official under James G. Watt, is a coal-industry executive and lobbyist who has argued for oil drilling off the California coast, pressed to open the Artic National Wildlife Refugee for oil exploration, and urged cutting the fees paid by coal companies for operating on federal land.

Steven Griles is known for arguing that environmental regulations should be loosened and the federal government's involvement reduced. Griles has denied charges that while at Interior he suppressed department studies on offshore drilling and federal coal royalties that conflicted with his views. The Washington Post reported that in his years at the Office of Surface Mining at Interior (OSM), Griles worked to make it harder for federal mine inspectors to cite violations and pushed enforcement responsibility to the states, which were often sympathetic to local companies. A former co-worker said he helped "cause devastation in the coalfields," and another said "he came with a vow to dismantle, eliminate OSM."

After his first stint at Interior, Griles worked as a coal company executive, and later came back to Washington to lobby on behalf of firms such as Occidental Petroleum Corp., Pennsylvania Power and Light, the National Mining Association, and other large utilities. Through his own firm, J. Steven Griles and Associates, Griles has represented firms such as the Coal Bed Methane Ad Hoc committee and Dominion Resources. His confirmation as Deputy Secretary sends a clear message from the administration that it will side with industry in conservation disputes. Griles, for his part will likely conserve little more than his own industry ties and business interests.

Griles has already been involved in a controversy over "missing comments" written by the Fish and Wildlife Service that criticized the Army Corps of Engineers' plan to weaken wetlands protections. As the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/a45595-2002Jan14.html">Washington Post</a> reports, Griles and Gale Norton were both involved in the missing comments, and their colleague at the Corps who previously lobbied for mining company interests -- <a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/node/nominations.html#parker">Mike Parker</a> -- approved the new rules that will weaken wetlands protections

J. Steven Griles

Deputy Secretary of the Department of Interior (2001-2004)
 Former coal lobbyist.

Highest ranking member of the Bush administration to be sent to prison during Abramoff scandal.

Romantically linked to two women in DOI, both involved in scandals.

J. Steven Griles served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 2001 until resigning in 2004. In 2004, the DOIÃ¢ÂÂs own inspector general called Griles a Ã¢ÂÂ<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/14/MNG31L58Q21.DTL&feed=rss.news">train wreck waiting to happen</a>.Ã¢ÂÂ Prior to joining the Bush administration, Griles was a coal industry lobbyist. Griles was the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300581.html">highest ranking member of the Bush administration</a> to be sent to prison during the Abramoff scandal. He was sentenced to a ten months imprisonment after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. Days after his guilty plea, he would marry his DOI subordinate Sue Ellen Wooldridge, who was part of an <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601793.html">ethics scandal</a> involving the purchase of a home with ConocoPhillips lobbyist. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Griles served in the Reagan administrationÃ¢ÂÂs DOI then became a <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/griles.php">coal industry lobbyist</a> with National Environmental Strategies, Inc. Griles continued <a href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">receiving payment of $284,000 a year</a> from the coal lobbying firm as he served as DOI Deputy Secretary. While at the DOI, he arranged multiple meetings with former oil and gas industry clients and <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/14/MNG31L58Q21.DTL">even awarded $2 million in federal contracts</a> to a former client. Griles <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110401938.html?nav=rss_print/asection">advised Jack Abramoff</a> on using members of Congress to pressure the DOI and gave him information on internal decision making within the agency. Before his conviction, Griles left the White House to become a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/14/oil-lobbyist-and-bush-enviro-lawyer-share-vacation-home/">lobbyist for ConocoPhillips</a>.

---

WASHINGTON Former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., and former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles are joining a lobbying firm headed by a former top White House energy adviser.

Nethercutt lost a bid for the U.S. Senate last year. Griles, who oversaw the Bush administration's push to open more public land to energy development, announced last month he was stepping down.

The pair are joining a firm headed by Andrew Lundquist, who led Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in the Bush administration's first term.

The Lundquist Group, LLC will be renamed Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles, LLC, and will remain based in Washington.

...

Griles, who earned a reputation as a go-to broker in Bush's program to lease out vast oil, gas and coal reserves below federally owned land in the West, said he was excited to be joining Nethercutt and Lundquist.

"Working as a team we can cover a broad range of complex national and international issues, including agriculture, defense, energy, financial services, mining, natural resources, and telecommunications," he said.

During nearly half his four-year tenure at Interior, Griles was investigated by the department's inspector general. Inspector General Earl Devaney concluded Griles didn't appear to violate ethics rules by arranging meetings between Interior officials and former clients and partners, or in the award of $1.6 million in contracts to a former client.

But Devaney described Griles' behavior as an example of "an institutional failure" among Interior officials who potentially eroded public trust by failing to consider the perceived impropriety of their actions.

Griles continued to receive $284,000 a year, in addition to his Interior salary, as part of a four-year severance package from his former lobbying and consulting firm.

In an interview last month, Griles called the charges against him "a political gambit" made by people opposed to the Bush administration.

Lundquist also has been a controversial figure. In January 2001, Cheney named the Energy Department employee to direct a task force that wrote a national energy policy.

Environmental groups criticized the task force for holding secret meetings with the energy industry, but Lundquist has said he met with hundreds of people from energy companies to conservation groups to consumer groups.

In a lawsuit seeking information about the task force meetings, the Natural Resources Defense Council subpoenaed Lundquist, saying he "holds a critical missing piece of the puzzle about how the Bush energy plan was developed."

Lundquist, a native of Fairbanks, Alaska, was a top aide to Sens. Frank Murkowski and Ted Stevens, both R-Alaska, before joining the Bush administration. He has denied wrongdoing.

"I can understand why people would like to know," he told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in 2002. "There's been a lot of discussion about how it was run and, to be honest, it was a very open process."

Cheney's task force, which has disbanded, called for increasing the nation's supply of energy through expanded oil and gas drilling on public land and rejuvenating nuclear power.

...<a href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408</a>

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

J. Steven Griles is now a principal at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lobbying" title="Lobbying">lobbying</a> firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lundquist,Nethercutt%26_Griles_LLC" title="Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles LLC" class="mw-redirect">Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles LLC</a>.

<hr />

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>] </div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Controversies">1 Controversies</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J.Steven_Griles#Testimony:Abramoff-Reed_Indian_Gambling_Scandal">2 Testimony: Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Related_Links">2.1 Related Links</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Profiles">3 Profiles</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#The_official_spin">3.1 The official spin</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Griles.27_first_stint_at_Interior">3.2 Griles' first stint at Interior</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Griles_moved_into_lobbying">3.3 Griles moved into lobbying</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Griles_returns_to_Interior">4 Griles returns to Interior</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#Griles_leaves_interior_again">4.1 Griles leaves interior again</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#SourceWatch_Resources">5 SourceWatch Resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#External_links">6 External links</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#General_Information">6.1 General Information</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles#External_articles">6.2 External articles</a>

<ul>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Controversies</h2>

Griles, "who oversaw the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bush_administration" title="Bush administration">Bush administration</a>'s push to open more public land to energy development," announced December 7, 2004, that "he was stepping down," Associated Press writer Matthew Daly <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">reported</a> January 31, 2005. "Griles, who earned a reputation as a go-to broker in Bush's program to lease out vast oil, gas and coal reserves below federally owned land in the West, said [January 31, 2005,] he was excited to be joining Nethercutt and Lundquist."

"During nearly half his four-year tenure at [the Department of the] Interior, Griles was investigated by the department's inspector general. Inspector General Earl Devaney concluded Griles didn't appear to violate ethics rules by arranging meetings between Interior officials and former clients and partners, or in the award of $1.6 million in contracts to a former client.

"But Devaney described Griles' behavior as an example of 'an institutional failure' among Interior officials who potentially eroded public trust by failing to consider the perceived impropriety of their actions.

"Griles continued to receive $284,000 a year, in addition to his Interior salary, as part of a four-year severance package from his former lobbying and consulting firm," Daly <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">wrote</a>.

<dl>

<dd>"During his tenure at the Interior Department, Griles came under fire for contacts with his former clients. He received nearly $1.1 million from his former lobbying firm while employed with the federal government." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/006232.asp">[1]</a></dd>

</dl>

In a December 2004 interview, "Griles called the charges against him 'a political gambit' made by people opposed to the Bush administration," Daly <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">wrote</a>.

<h2>Testimony: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Abramoff-Reed_Indian_Gambling_Scandal" title="Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal">Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal</a></h2>

Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_McCain" title="John McCain">John McCain</a> (R-Arizona) "has called on the former No. 2 official at the Interior Department to testify [on November 2, 2005,] before a Senate panel investigating <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lobbyist" title="Lobbyist">lobbyist</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jack_Abramoff" title="Jack Abramoff">Jack Abramoff</a> and his involvement with Indian gambling tribes," The Hill's Josephine Hearn <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/110105/news3.html">reported</a>. This "marks the fourth and final [hearing] in the Indian Affairs Committee’s investigation of Abramoff." McCain is now chairman of the panel.

Griles "was involved in efforts to help two of Abramoff’s clients — the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan — fend off casino proposals from rival tribes and may have done so while engaged in employment negotiations with Abramoff, recent news reports have said. Griles has said through spokespeople that he did not play a major role in endeavors to aid the tribes," Hearn wrote.

"The development marks the first time McCain has taken direct aim at the administration during the Indian Affairs Committee’s year-and-a-half-long investigation of Abramoff, his associate <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Scanlon" title="Michael Scanlon">Michael Scanlon</a> and their efforts to extract more than $80 million in lobbying and public-relations fees from Indian tribes," Hearn said.

"Griles is expected to appear alongside <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Italia_Federici" title="Italia Federici">Italia Federici</a> at the hearing ... Federici, who was an aide to Interior Secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gale_A._Norton" title="Gale A. Norton">Gale A. Norton</a> during her 1996 Senate bid, reportedly served as a go-between linking Griles and Abramoff. Federici is president of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Council_of_Republicans_for_Environmental_Advocacy" title="Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy">Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy</a>, a group founded by Norton and anti-tax activist <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Grover_Norquist" title="Grover Norquist">Grover Norquist</a>."

<h3>Related Links</h3>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/006789.asp">"DOI investigates contacts with group started by Norton,"</a> Indianz.com, March 3, 2005. Includes links to related stories.</li>

<li>Susan Schmidt, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/03/25/AR2005032508287.html">"Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying. Probe Scrutinizes Efforts Against Tribe,"</a> Washington Post, March 13, 2005. See <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/03/25/AR2005032508287_5.html">page 5</a>.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/006996.asp">"Griles fought casino opposed by Abramoff's clients,"</a> Indianz.com, March 14, 2005.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/06/politics/main693628.shtml">"Lobbyist Had Close W. House Ties,"</a> Associated Press (CBS News), May 6, 2005. See <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/06/politics/main693628_page2.shtml">page 2</a>.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/05/07/national/a03050705_03.prt">"Bush had close ties with lobbyist being investigated,"</a> Associated Press, May 7, 2005.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=51732">"Abramoff Scandal Burns Conrad, But Can't Keep Cheney Away,"</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democratic_National_Committee" title="Democratic National Committee">Democratic National Committee</a> (US Newswire), August 15, 2005.</li>

<li>Susan Schmidt, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/27/AR2005082701067.html">"Abramoff Cited Aid Of Interior Official: Conflict-of-Interest Probe Is Underway,"</a> Washington Post, August 28, 2005.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.softcom.net/webnews/wed/cl/Uus-abramoff.RfDI_FaS.html">"Feds probe Abramoff ties to official,"</a> UPI, August 28, 2005.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/010037.asp">"Abramoff tried to hire Griles at lobbying firm,"</a> Indianz.com, August 29, 2005.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/010087.asp">"Tribal leader wants probe of Griles-Abramoff links,"</a> Indianz.com, August 31, 2005.</li>

<li>Peter Overby, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4828591">"Ring of Chagrin Expands Around Arrested Lobbyist,"</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NPR" title="NPR" class="mw-redirect">NPR</a>, September 1, 2005.</li>

<li>Gale Courey Toensing, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411513">"Interior official implicated in Abramoff dealings,"</a> Indian Country Today, September 2, 2005.</li>

</ul>

<h2>Profiles</h2>

Previously, Griles, who became Deputy Secretary for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._Department_of_the_Interior" title="U.S. Department of the Interior">U.S. Department of the Interior</a> (DOI) on July 12, 2001, announced his resignation December 7, 2004. The Department administers more than 500 million acres of federal land, is responsible for endangered species protections, and oversees the conservation and development of the nation's water and mineral resources. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45180-2004Dec7.html">[2]</a>

<h3>The official spin</h3>

The glowing biography of Griles on the Department of the Interior's website strives to portray him as a strong environmental advocate in his role as Deputy Secretary:

<dl>

<dd>"[As Deputy Assistant Secretary during the Reagan administration he] developed infrastructure to ensure a balance between public accessibility and resource protection with the Virginia state park system. During his tenure, educational facilities, nature centers, additional trails, qualified staff and other resources were enhanced. Steve expanded and strengthened environmental controls of coal mines and worked to strengthen Virginia environmental laws and enact tough new environmental standards to protect Virginia's streams and rivers from mining activities through enactment of the Virginia Surface Mining and Reclamation Act… As Deputy Director [of the Office of Surface Mining] he installed performance-based standards to assure greater environmental protection and higher compliance. " <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.doi.gov/secretary/griles.html">[3]</a></dd>

</dl>

These complimentary phrases belie his actual record. Described as "an arrogant booster of the very energy cartel he was meant to regulate" and "a congressional investigation waiting to happen" by Jeffrey St. Clair in Counterpunch, Griles is a well-known coal, oil and energy industry lobbyist who has engaged in significant conflicts of interest in maintaining his strong lobbying ties as Deputy Secretary. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06282003.html">[4]</a>

<h3>Griles' first stint at Interior</h3>

Griles has moved between government and industry more than once in his career. In 1970 he was the executive director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Economic Development. During the Reagan administration he joined the Department of the Interior for the first time, where he served under Secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Gaius_Watt&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Gaius Watt (page does not exist)">James Gaius Watt</a>.

While at the Interior Department, Griles was the deputy director for the Office of Surface Mining (1981-1983), deputy assistant secretary for Land and Water (1983-1984) and the assistant secretary of Land and Minerals Management (1984-1989).

During this period Griles was responsible for a number of damaging policies that benefited industry to the detriment of the environment. In particular he:

<ul>

<li>was heavily involved in efforts to downplay the risk of oil spills associated with proposed drilling off the California coast (this included attempting to cover up a damaging Fish and Wildlife memo that stated the risks of drilling off the coast of California) <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.clearproject.org/reports_griles.html">[5]</a></li>

<li>reduced the amount corporations have to pay in royalty rates charged for extracting underground coal from 8 percent to 5 percent</li>

<li>sold titles to federal oil and shale tracts for $2.50 an acre (far below their market value). A private company bought a 17,000-acre claim for $42,000, which it sold months later for $37 million. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.firegriles.com/about_griles.php">[6]</a></li>

<li>exhibited an extemely combative attitude toward congressional oversight. He even tried to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out how much money and time the GAO used to investigate his actions related to some coal leases in western Colorado.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.clearproject.org/reports_griles.html">[7]</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>Griles moved into lobbying</h3>

After leaving the Interior Department, Griles held a number of industry lobbying positions:

<ul>

<li>Senior vice president of public environmental and marketing activities for the United Company. 1989-1995 (coal, oil and gas, cogeneration, gold mining and manufacturing)</li>

<li>Principal with National Environmental Strategies (NES), 1995 (energy and mining)</li>

<li>Founder of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J._Steven_Griles_and_Associates&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="J. Steven Griles and Associates (page does not exist)">J. Steven Griles and Associates</a>, his own lobbying firm, which represented over 40 coal, oil, gas and electric companies and trade associations, including: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arch_Coal" title="Arch Coal">Arch Coal</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Gas_Association" title="American Gas Association">American Gas Association</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Mining_Association" title="National Mining Association">National Mining Association</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Occidental_Petroleum" title="Occidental Petroleum" class="mw-redirect">Occidental Petroleum</a> Corporation<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.firegriles.com/about_griles.php">[8]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Griles returns to Interior</h2>

Returning to the Interior Department as second in command in July 2001, Griles continued to work closely with former industry clients in clear violation of two separate recusal agreements. Numerous phone calls and dinner dates with former industry clients were revealed in documents obtained under the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_of_Information_Act" title="Freedom of Information Act" class="mw-redirect">Freedom of Information Act</a>.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/902grilespr.html">[9]</a>

Griles met with a number of his former clients and top White House officials on "the 'definition of fill' rulemaking, the new source review component of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clean_Air_Act" title="Clean Air Act">Clean Air Act</a> and the development of thousands of coal bed methane wells in the West." According to Environmental Media Services, Griles calls these meetings "social and informational."<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.ems.org/interior/griles.html">[10]</a> He also attempted to pressure the U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Protection_Agency" title="Environmental Protection Agency" class="mw-redirect">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA) into changing its analysis criticizing a coal bed methane project in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/902grilespr.html">[11]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/readletter.html">[12]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041011&s=press">[13]</a>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Friends_of_the_Earth" title="Friends of the Earth">Friends of the Earth</a>, which exposed the story, noted that before his appointment to the Interior Department, Griles had worked as a lobbyist on behalf of several coal bed methane companies involved in drilling gas wells on public lands in the basin.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/902grilespr.html">[14]</a>

Additional ties to industry include the receipt of $284,000.00 a year as part of a $1.1 million payment for his client base from National Environmental Strategies (NES), the oil and gas lobbying firm Griles worked for. As deputy secretary of the Interior, Griles is charged with overseeing and revamping environmental regulations that affect the profits of his former clients and NES's current clients. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.firegriles.com/">[15]</a> Since assuming office Griles has:

<ul>

<li>pushed rollbacks in environmental standards for air and water;</li>

<li>advocated increased oil and gas drilling on public lands</li>

<li>tried to exempt the oil industry from royalty payments</li>

<li>sought to create new loopholes in regulations governing stripmining.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06282003.html">[16]</a></li>

</ul>

Griles also sat on the President's senior policy group for the "Clear Skies" initiative (a misleading euphemistic name for a policy that is notorious for easing restrictions on corporate polluters), participating in at least 11 of its meetings. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edison_Electric_Institute" title="Edison Electric Institute">Edison Electric Institute</a>, a former Griles client, was reported to have been present at one of those meetings.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript222_full.html">[17]</a>

In Griles' headlong rush to implement industry's agenda, the true purpose of his position, that of a protector of the environment, has been lost. Kristen Sykes, the Griles watchdog at Friends of the Earth noted that "[there are] over ten pages of energy meetings that he has had since he's been at the Interior Department…You don't see meetings on what are we gonna do about our visitor centers that are crumbling in our national parks. You see meetings with Alaska officials about drilling in the arctic. You see meetings about oil and gas development in Wyoming. This is not an agency that is created just to implement the President's energy plan. It's to protect our lands for future generations." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript222_full.html">[18]</a>

Far from protecting our lands, Griles has used his position to exploit them to benefit his former industry clients. Griles' repeated meetings with past clients in spite of his recusal agreements finally prompted an investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Interior in 2003.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06282003.html">[19]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-13/s_4407.asp">[20]</a>

But this is nothing unusual for the current Interior Department, where former lobbyists are the rule and environmentalists are an endangered species. As Bill Moyers noted in a special investigative report on Griles: "[W]hen it comes to representing the interests of industry inside the department, J. Steven Griles has lots of company. To be sure, you can grow dizzy just thinking about Interior's revolving door."<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript222_full.html">[21]</a>

<h3>Griles leaves interior again</h3>

On December 7, 2004, Griles announced his resignation from DOI. Noting his controversial tenure, the Washington Post noted, "An 18-month investigation by the department's inspector general found that [Griles] had dealings with energy and mining industry clients of National Environmental Strategies Inc. even as he continued to receive payments from his former firm. The report did not accuse Griles of violating any laws or federal ethics rules." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45180-2004Dec7.html">[22]</a>

Griles took aim at his critics as he prepared to leave, saying that those who "came after me with a political agenda opposed this president at the very beginning. ... In 22 years of service, I have assured that the environment is healthier, the air is clearer, the water is safer and the land is being reclaimed. At the same time, there is a tremendous need for energy in this county." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45180-2004Dec7.html">[23]</a>

Griles' superior, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton, wrote in response to his resignation, "Yours is the letter I hoped would never come." David Hirsch of the environmental group Friends of the Earth said of Griles' plans to take a private sector job, "That's the whole problem: He never left private life. He spent four years working for his former clients at the Department of Interior. ... He's the Energizer Bunny of conflict of interest." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45180-2004Dec7.html">[24]</a>

According to <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/09/ma_494_01.html">'Mother Jones'</a>:

So how did a process mandated by a federal judge "to minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, the adverse environmental effects" from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mountaintop_removal" title="Mountaintop removal">mountaintop removal</a> become a vehicle for industry?

Two words: Steven Griles. Never heard of him? You're not supposed to. Steven Griles is one of industry's moles within the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bush_administration" title="Bush administration">Bush administration</a>. Before coming to work as deputy secretary of the Interior, Griles was one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, with a long list of energy-industry clients, including the National Mining Association and several of the country's largest coal companies.

On August 1, 2001, Griles signed a "statement of disqualification," promising to stay clear of issues involving his former clients. Despite that promise, according to his own appointment calendar (obtained by environmental groups through the Freedom of Information Act), Griles met repeatedly with coal companies while the administration worked on the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mountaintop-removal&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mountaintop-removal (page does not exist)">mountaintop-removal</a> issue.

Griles has denied discussing the "fill rule" in any of those meetings. But on August 4, 2001 -- three days after signing his recusal letter -- he gave a speech before the West Virginia Coal Association, reassuring members that "we will fix the federal rules very soon on water and spoil placement."

Two months later, Griles sent a letter to the EPA and other agencies drafting the EIS, complaining that they were not doing enough to safeguard the future of mountaintop removal and instructing them to "focus on centralizing and streamlining coal mine permitting."

<h2>SourceWatch Resources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bush_regime_environmental_record" title="Bush regime environmental record">Bush regime environmental record</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Government-industry_revolving_door" title="Government-industry revolving door">Government-industry revolving door</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Italia_Federici" title="Italia Federici">Italia Federici</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Regulatory_lapdogs" title="Regulatory lapdogs">Regulatory lapdogs</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>External links</h2>

<h3>General Information</h3>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.doi.gov/secretary/griles.html">Department of the Interior biography on James Steven Griles</a>.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Steven_Griles">Wikipedia background information on Steven Griles</a>.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earthjustice.org/policy/profiles/display.html?ID=1018">J. Steven Griles--Deputy Secretary</a>," Earthjustice Whitehouse Watch Administration Profile.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.firegriles.com/about_griles.php">The Case Against Griles</a>," a campaign to remove Griles from office; led by a coalition of environmental groups including Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Citizens Coal Council, Friends of the Earth and Common Assets Defense Council.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/grilescase1.html">The Case against J. Steven Griles, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior</a>," Friends of the Earth, undated.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://lcv.org/images/client/pdfs/2003lcvsc_final.pdf">2003 League of Conservation Voters Presidential Scorecard</a> (PDF file), with special notation on Griles titled "Industry Lobbyist Turned Interior Official Accused of Helping Former Clients."</li>

</ul>

<h3>External articles</h3>

<ul>

<li>M.E. Sprengelmeyer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.abqtrib.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=GRILES-03-08-01&cat=WW">Bush chooses energy lobbyist for No. 2 at Interior</a>," Albuquerque Tribune, March 08, 2001.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.clearproject.org/reports_griles.html">J. Steven Griles: Coal Lobbyist Nominated for Interior Second in Command</a>," CLEAR project's backgound on Griles, March 9, 2001.</li>

<li>Jake Tapper, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/05/23/griles/index.html">Greens red with rage</a>: The man known as the Mike Tyson of the coal and oil industries is on his way to an Interior post with little opposition from the Democrats," Salon.com, May 23, 2001.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00917F7385A0C7A8DDDA10894D9404482">No Greens Need Apply</a>," New York Times Editorial, August 19, 2001.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/readletter.html">Letter to EPA from Griles</a>; Subject: Proposed EPA Region 8 Letter on Coalbed Methane - EIS's Prepared by the Department of the Interior - Wyoming and Montana, (reprinted by Friends of the Earth), April 12, 2002.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/grilespr.html">Deputy Secretary of the Interior Commits Flagrant Ethics Violation</a>: J. Steven Griles Caught Lobbying EPA on Behalf of Former Clients, Flouting Formal Recusal Agreements," Press Release, May 25, 2002.</li>

<li>Sasha Polakow-Suransky, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?DOCID=1G1:91349406&refid=askj%5Fkey">The West's Griles virus: industry's man in interior</a>," American Prospect, September 9, 2002.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/902grilespr.html">Groups Demand That Bush Oust #2 At Interior Over Ethics Violations</a>: Release Documents Revealing J. Steven Griles Involved in Decisions Benefiting Energy Companies That Were His Clients," Press Release, September 25, 2002.</li>

<li>Ken Ward Jr., "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://sundaygazettemail.com/news/News/2002092812/">Interior Official Maintains Coal Ties</a>," Charleston Gazette, September 29, 2002.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ems.org/interior/griles.html">Steven Griles Accused of Blurring Lobbying and Government Jobs</a>," Environmental Media Services, March 5, 2003.</li>

<li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://lieberman.senate.gov/%7Elieberman/press/03/04/2003407935.html">Lieberman Seeks Probe of Deputy Secretary Griles' Adherence to Ethics Agreements</a>: Interior Official Met with former Clients With Interests Before the Department, News Reports Say," Media Release, April 7, 2003.</li>

<li>H. Josef Hebert, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-13/s_4407.asp">Inspector general examines ethics enforcement program at Interior Department</a>," Environmental News Network, May 13, 2003.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript222_full.html">Who is J. Steven Griles, and why should you care?</a>" Transcript of Bill Moyers NOW investigation on conflicts of interest in the Interior Department, May 30, 2003.</li>

<li>Jeffrey St. Clair, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06282003.html">Meet Steven Griles: Big Oil's Inside Man</a>," CounterPunch, June 28, 2003.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Eyal Press, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041011&s=press">Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch</a>," The Nation, September 23, 2004.</li>

<li>Juliet Eilperin, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45180-2004Dec7.html">Interior Department's No. 2 Resigns After Controversial Tenure</a>," Washington Post, December 8, 2004.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Matthew Daly, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=51408">"Nethercutt joins firm led by ex-Cheney energy adviser,"</a> Asssociated Press (Spokesman-Review), January 31, 2005.</li>

<li>Andy Sullivan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/02/ex_official_denies_link_to_lobbyist_abramoff/">"Ex-official denies link to lobbyist Abramoff,"</a> Reuters (Boston Globe), November 2, 2005.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Andy Sullivan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2326989920070323">"Ex-U.S. official pleads guilty in Abramoff probe,"</a> Reuters, March 23, 2007.</li>

<li>Richard B. Schmitt, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-griles24mar24,1,6365376.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo">"Former Interior deputy guilty in Abramoff case. J. Steven Griles, whom the lobbyist once called 'our guy' in the department, also admitted to lying about a relationship with an Abramoff employee,"</a> Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2007.</li>

<li>Jerry Seper, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070323-112811-7894r.htm">"Ex-Interior No. 2 lied in lobbyist case,"</a> Washington Times, March 24, 2007.</li>

<li>Susan Schmidt, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061501607.html?nav=rss_politics/congress">"Prison Time Is Urged for Griles. Ex-Interior Official Admitted Lying About Ties to Abramoff,"</a> Washington Post, June 16, 2007.</li>

<li>Paul Kiel, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003451.php">"Prosecutors Detail Favor Trail between Abramoff, DoI Official,"</a> TPMmuckraker, June 16, 2007.</li>

<li>Bill Berkowitz, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=199">J. Steven Griles did the crime but doesn't want to do the time</a>", Media Transparency, June 19, 2007.[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.example.com">link title</a>]</li>

</ul>

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<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Corruption" title="Category:Corruption">Corruption</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Scandals" title="Category:Scandals">Scandals</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Environment" title="Category:Environment">Environment</a></li>

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February 16, 2007 | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/back_issues.php" class="body" style="text-decoration: none;">Back Issues</a> 
Short of a Crime, Anything Goes: Interior Department Corruption Scandal Widens
Last fall, Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney testified before Congress that "simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior." [1] New revelations about the relationship between two high-ranking administration officials add new meaning to Devaney's charge.Sue Ellen Wooldridge, the Justice Department's top environmental attorney and a former political appointee at the Interior Department, recently resigned after disclosing her long-term relationship with J. Steven Griles—the Interior Department's former deputy secretary whose ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff are the subject of a criminal investigation. Wooldridge played a lead role in responding to earlier ethics investigations of Griles, at times even helping deflect allegations against him.Griles was a top lobbyist for the mining, oil and gas industries before joining the Interior Department. While at Interior he was the subject of a high-profile ethics investigation into his continued contacts with his clients, despite having signed a recusal agreement when he took office. Environmental groups repeatedly pointed out that Griles was also receiving $284,000 per year from his former lobbying firm during each of the four years he was on the government payroll.According to the Legal Times, while serving as deputy chief of staff to Secretary Gale Norton, Wooldridge was tasked with screening Griles' compliance with his recusal agreements. She subsequently oversaw the operation of the department's ethics office—which was monitoring Griles' conduct—while serving as solicitor, the department's top lawyer. At one point she even weighed in on his behalf, writing a letter that disputed a draft Inspector General report that concluded Griles may have committed an ethical violation. [2]At no time during the Inspector General's 18-month investigation into Griles did Wooldridge disclose her relationship with him, which, according to the Legal Times, dated at least to February of 2004. Nor did she disclose the relationship during her Senate confirmation hearing for the Interior solicitor job, or mention it when questioned about potential conflicts of interest during her later Justice Department confirmation hearing.The Washington Post reported yesterday that while at the Justice Department, Wooldridge purchased a $980,000 vacation home with Griles and a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips. Nine months after entering this business partnership, Wooldridge approved consent decrees allowing the oil company to delay environmental clean-up projects. [3]The House Natural Resources Committee is holding an oversight hearing today to examine ethical failures, employee misconduct and general mismanagement at the Interior Department. Inspector General Devaney provided testimony on the ethics investigations his office has conducted over the past few years. [4]
References:
1. Edmund L. Andrews. Many Investigations, One Department. New York Times, January 21, 2007.
2. Jason McLure. Official’s Romance Raises Conflict Questions. Legal Times, February 5, 2007.
3. Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi. Justice Official Bought Vacation Home with Oil Lobbyist. Washington Post, February 15, 2007.
4. DOI Inspector General Devaney:<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.doioig.gov/upload/MMS%20ROI%20REDACTED.pdf">http://www.doioig.gov/upload/MMS%20ROI%20REDACTED.pdf</a>Related links:
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=20">http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=20</a>found on : <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/">http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/</a><div align="right" style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000326.php" class="body" style="line-height: 16px;">Permanent link to this article</a></div><div>
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</div><div>From oil lobbyists buying million-dollar homes with DOI officials to a high level administrator being sentenced to prison time amid the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the agency that is tasked with protecting America’s natural resources was wrought with flagrant ethical failures during the Bush administration. Here’s the background on the biggest scandals and the key figures in the DOI under the Bush administration (Timeline, Dossiers):</div><div>
</div><div>Timeline</div><div>
</div><div>• 1983-1989: J. Steven Griles lobbying for energy lobbying firm National Environmental Strategies, Inc.</div><div>• January 2001: Gale Norton is sworn in as Department of the Interior</div><div>Secretary, J. Steven Grilels appointed as Deputy Secretary. Griles required to sign statement saying he will recuse himself from “any particular matter involving specific parties in which any of [his] former clients is or represents a party.”</div><div>• September 2003: Jack Abramoff offers a job to Griles. Emails reveal Griles was seriously considering leaving DOI at the time.</div><div>• February 2004: DOI’s Sue Ellen Wooldridge writes letter to Inspector General in support of Griles without disclosing her romantic relationship with her superior.</div><div>• January 2005: Griles joins lobbying firm run by ex-Cheney energy adviser.LUNDQUIST</div><div>• November 2005: Jack Abramoff revealed to have directed at least $250,000 to CREA, Italia Ferici and Gale Norton’s Republican environmentalism group.</div><div>• March 2006: Gale Norton resigns from DOI, saying ethics scandals did not influence her decision.</div><div>• March 2006: Gov. Dirk Kempthorne named as new Interior secretary.</div><div>• September 2006: Interior Department inspector general Earl Davaney issues scathing report uncovering “widespread ethical failures” and Griles a “train wreck waiting to happen.” Allegations included “financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.”</div><div>• December 2006: Gale Norton joins Royal Dutch Shell.</div><div>• March 2007: Disgraced DOI appointee Julie MacDonald revealed to have received cash award of $9,628.</div><div>• February 2007: Griles revealed to have purchased $1m home with former DOI insubordinate Sue Ellen Wooldridge and a ConocoPhillips lobbyist. Months after the purchase, Wooldridge issued an agreement delaying $500m in ConocoPhillips pollution cleanups.</div><div>• March 2007: Griles admits to lying about his ties to Jack Abramoff and his girlfriend who acted as the go-between, DOI aide Italia Federici.</div><div>• May 2007: Report indicates MacDonald leaked internal DOI documents to Chevron employees and the father of an online RPG friend.</div><div>• May 2007: MacDonald revealed to have received a $9,628 award prior to leaving DOI, a “Special Thanks for Achieving Results award.” The figure is just under the $10,000 mark that would have triggered an investigation by OPM. The bonus was approved by DOI Deputy Sec. Lynn Scarlett.</div><div>• June 2007: Griles sentenced to 10 months prison time.</div><div>• December 2007: Italia Federici sentenced to 60 days in a halfway house and four years of probations for tax evasion and obstruction.</div><div>• May 2008: NOIA issues statement urging lawmakers not to raise liability caps on oil companies following the BP spill.</div><div>• August 2008: Sightings of polar bears in open arctic ice on the increase.</div><div>• August 2008: DOI Sec. Kempthorne proposes new regulations that cripple Endangered Species Act.</div><div>• October 2009: Gale Norton becomes focus of corruption probe regarding possible discussions of her future employment at Royal Dutch Shell as she served as DOI Secretary.</div><div>• March 2010: Cheney associate and former MMS head Randall Luthi becomes president of offshore drilling industry group weeks before BP oil spill.</div><div>
</div><div>Bush’s DOI Insiders</div><div>
</div><div>Gale Norton</div><div>
</div><div>Secretary of the Department of Interior (2001-2006)</div><div>• Closely linked to Abramoff.</div><div>• Joined Shell Oil immediately after leaving DOI.</div><div>• Currently under federal investigation for discussing employment with Shell Oil while she was still DOI Secretary.</div><div>Gale Norton served as the Secretary of the Department of Interior from 2001 to 2006, at the height of Jack Abramoff’s influence. At the beginning of his administration, President Bush suspended many of Clinton’s late-term executive orders regarding the environment. One environmentalist called Gale Norton “James Watt in a skirt.” Abramoff clients contributed about $500,000 to Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), an organization that she created with Grover Norquist and Italia Federici. After taking office, Norton would make a succession of decisions in favor of Abramoff’s Indian casino clients. After resigning from DOI in 2006, Norton joined Royal Dutch Shell – a company that she regularly dealt with in her position as DOI secretary. Under the Obama administration, Norton was subpoenaed by a grand jury for holding discussions with Shell about employment while in the role of DOI Secretary. Under her watch, DOI granted Shell three oil shale releases on federal land, worth as much as hundred of billions.</div><div>
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</div><div>Lynn Scarlett</div><div>Deputy Secretary of the Interior (2005-2009)</div><div>• Former head of Libertarian Reason Foundation.</div><div>• Leading proponent of “new environmentalism.”</div><div>Lynn Scarlett served as acting Secretary of the Interior in between the Norton and Kempthorne appointments, and Deputy Secretary from 2005 to 2009. Formerly head of the Libertarian Reason Foundation, Scarlett was a leading proponent of “new environmentalism,” the strategy employed by conservatives to scale back regulation and to entrust accountability to the private sector. Scarlett was responsible for approving a $9,628 bonus to Julie MacDonald in spite of the controversy over her tenure at DOI. This figure was just under the $10,000 amount that would have triggered a review by the Office of Personnel Management.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Dirk Kempthorne</div><div>Secretary of the Department of Interior (2006-2009)</div><div>
</div><div>• Selected by Bush for his willingness to push increased oil & gas drilling.</div><div>• Policies had a crippling effect on the Endangered Species Act.</div><div>Dirk Kempthorne served as Norton’s successor as DOI Secretary from 2006 to 2009. Kempthorne was chosen by President Bush to replace Gale Norton as DOI Secretary specifically with the intention of pushing for increased oil and gas drilling in 2006. Under the Kempthorne-managed DOI, federal agencies were no longer required to submit plans to the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. This, wrote The New York Times, led to dangerous “self-consultation” for agencies with very different priorities. According to Kempthorne, the Endangered Species Act “was never intended to be a back door opportunity for climate change policy.” Asked to defend such a change weeks before President Obama was to be sworn in, Kempthorne responded, “we have 39 days of work left.” In the months leading up to the decision, record numbers of polar bears were seen swimming in open water off of the coast of Alaska. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Kempthorne’s political career was largely funded by timber, mining and energy contributions: $86,000 in total, or 8% of his entire campaign war chest.</div><div>griles</div><div>
</div><div>J. Steven Griles</div><div>Deputy Secretary of the Department of Interior (2001-2004)</div><div>• Former coal lobbyist.</div><div>• Highest ranking member of the Bush administration to be sent to prison during Abramoff scandal.</div><div>• Romantically linked to two women in DOI, both involved in scandals.</div><div>J. Steven Griles served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 2001 until resigning in 2004. In 2004, the DOI’s own inspector general called Griles a “train wreck waiting to happen.” Prior to joining the Bush administration, Griles was a coal industry lobbyist. Griles was the highest ranking member of the Bush administration to be sent to prison during the Abramoff scandal. He was sentenced to a ten months imprisonment after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. Days after his guilty plea, he would marry his DOI subordinate Sue Ellen Wooldridge, who was part of an ethics scandal involving the purchase of a home with ConocoPhillips lobbyist. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Griles served in the Reagan administration’s DOI then became a coal industry lobbyist with National Environmental Strategies, Inc. Griles continued receiving payment of $284,000 a year from the coal lobbying firm as he served as DOI Deputy Secretary. While at the DOI, he arranged multiple meetings with former oil and gas industry clients and even awarded $2 million in federal contracts to a former client. Griles advised Jack Abramoff on using members of Congress to pressure the DOI and gave him information on internal decision making within the agency. Before his conviction, Griles left the White House to become a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips.</div><div>
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</div><div>Sue Ellen Wooldridge</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy Chief of Staff for Sec. Gale Norton</div><div>• Purchased $980,000 home with J. Steven Griles and a ConocoPhillips lobbyist.</div><div>• Delayed $500 million pollution cleanup for ConocoPhillips.</div><div>Sue Ellen Wooldridge was the Deputy Chief of Staff for DOI Secretary Gale Norton. During her time at DOI where she provided the agency with ethics advice, Wooldridge became romantically involved with J. Steven Griles. Wooldridge went on to the Department of Justice as an attorney in charge of environmental and natural resources. Wooldridge and her romantic partner and once-superior Griles purchased a $980,000 home in March 2006 in South Carolina along with a third buyer: Don R. Duncan, a lobbyist for ConoPhillips. Less than a year after the three purchased the home, Wooldridge delayed $500 million pollution cleanup of a superfund site run by ConocoPhillips. Three days after Griles plead guilty, Wooldridge and he were married.</div><div>
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</div><div>Italia Federici</div><div>Political Aide to Gale Norton</div><div>• Abramoff directed $500,000 to a Federici-founded group in exchange for political favors.</div><div>• Introduced Abramoff to J. Steven Griles, with whom she was romantically involved.</div><div>• Convicted of tax evasion, obstruction of justice.</div><div>
</div><div>Italia Federici founded the Council of Republican for Environmental Advocacy with Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Norton brought Federici into DOI as a political aide. Federici was also romantically linked to J. Steven Griles, who she introduced to Jack Abramoff, a college friend. Abramoff directed about $500,000 to CREA in exchange for political favors from Federici, stating in an email that Federici’s group was “our access to Norton.” Federici was eventually charged with tax evasion and obstruction during Senate investigations of the Abramoff scandal. In 2007, she was sentenced to two months in a half way house and four years of probation.</div><div>
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</div><div>Randall Luthi</div><div>Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2007)</div><div>Director, DOI Mineral Management Service (2007-2009)</div><div>• Career goes back 30 years with Dick Cheney.</div><div>• Oversaw MMS while it was mired in drug and sex scandals.</div><div>• Now runs NOIA, an offshore drilling industry group.</div><div>
</div><div>Randall Luthi served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until being moved to the DOI’s Mineral Management Service (MMS) , where he worked from 2007 to the end of the Bush administration. While Luthi headed MMS, the department was involved in a deep ethics scandal that “[included] allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.” Luthi is a close ally of Dick Cheney – his career goes back 30 years to when he interned for the former Vice President in 1982. Luthi is currently president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an oil industry group whose goal is to “secure reliable access and a favorable regulatory and economic environment.” Following the BP oil spill, the former MMS director’s organization stood in opposition of raising liability caps on the offshore industry.</div><div>
</div><div>Julie MacDonald</div><div>Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks (2004-2007)</div><div>• Tampered with findings in scientific studies to favor industry interests.</div><div>• Disseminated internal DOI documents to oil lobbyists, her own child, and an online videogame friend.</div><div>Julie MacDonald worked in DOI under Fish and Wildlife and Parks until resigning amid controversy. According to Mother Jones, MacDonald bullied, insulted, and harassed Fish and Wildlife employees to alter scientific findings regarding the endangered species programs, despite having no background in biology. The Washington Post described MacDonald’s actions as “political medling.” If scientists made one recommendation, MacDonald would alter ther recommendation or ignore it if it “threatened industry or landowners in any way.” One Fish and Wildlife officer said that MacDonald’s influence was so prevalent that “it became a verb for us — getting MacDonalded.” During investigations of her actions, MacDonald was revealed to have disseminated internal DOI documents “to two people with e-mail addresses at Chevron; and to the father of an online role-playing game partner, who had no legitimate reason for access to internal Interior Department records.” Asked about why she sent internal DOI documents to a friend from an online RPG, MacDonald simply responded that she wanted another set of eyes on them, negative comments included. Upon leaving DOI, MacDonald received a $9,628 bonus from Lynn Scarlett, was just under the $10,000 amount that would have triggered a review by the Office of Personnel Management.</div><div>
</div><div>links <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/report/interior-scandals-under-bush/">http://thinkprogress.org/report/interior-scandals-under-bush/</a></div><div>
</div><div>===</div><div><a href="http://www.nationalcorruptionindex.org/pages/profile.php?profile_id=267">http://www.nationalcorruptionindex.org/pages/profile.php?profile_id=267</a></div><div>
</div><div>Griles was a former coal industry lobbyist before being appointed to the number two spot at the Department of Interior. During his tenure there, from July 2001 to December 2004, he was allowed to receive payments of nearly $1.1 million as part of a buyout from his former consulting firm while earning a $150,000 government salary. Griles also became the highest-ranking official in President George W. Bush’s administration linked to the case of corrupt lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff. Upon taking the job as deputy secretary under Gail Norton in July 2001, Griles was supposed to recuse himself from all matters involving his former clients. However, Griles continued to associate with former clients in the fossil fuels industries.  He also had at least 32 meetings with Executive branch officials on pending mining and clean air acts that affected several of his former clients, according to the Washington Post. He met three times with the general counsel of the National Mining Association and intervened in a dispute over a massive coal methane gas extraction project involving energy companies he once represented.  Griles resigned from his post in December 2004 after an 18-month investigation by the department’s Inspector General. The report did not accuse Griles of violating any laws or federal ethics rules. That would come later, in connection with Abramoff. Upon leaving office, Griles joined with two other political veterans (former White House national energy policy director Andrew Lundquist and former Congressman George Nethercutt) to form the political lobbying firm of Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles, LLC.  He resigned from the firm on Jan. 10, 2007 when he learned he would be indicted for giving false testimony two years earlier in the Abramoff case. On March 23, 2007, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Senate investigation of Abramoff. In 2005 Griles had been called to testify before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in the investigation of Abramoff. Abramoff's private emails indicated that Griles had pledged to use his authority to block a casino which Abramoff was lobbying against. Abramoff also indicated that he was interested in hiring Griles. Griles told the panel in 2005 that he had little to do with Indian affairs and never tried to help Abramoff's clients. But a former Interior Department lawyer testified that Griles inserted himself in tribal issues, including one that would determine whether a small Louisiana tribe would be able to build a casino. While at Interior, Griles's then-girlfriend, Italia Federici, introduced him to Abramoff and then acted as a go-between. Federici ran an advocacy group to which Abramoff and his clients donated $500,000. Griles acknowledged in his plea agreement that he lied when he said that Abramoff didn’t have any special access to him at Interior. He also conceded that he misled the Senate committee's investigators when he told them his relationship with Abramoff was "no different" than with other lobbyists. In fact, Griles subsequently admitted Abramoff was the only lobbyist he met with while at Interior. In another ethically shady move, Griles and his most recent companion, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, who helped him fend off ethics charges when they both worked at Interior, bought a $1 million beach house with the top lobbyist for the oil company ConocoPhillips.  Then Wooldridge signed off on a move to ease up on anti-pollution requirements imposed on ConocoPhillips as part of a settlement. Wooldridge, who had moved on to head the Justice Department’s environmental division, resigned from that post in January 2007. As of April 2007, Griles was still awaiting sentencing, with prosecutors recommending no more than 10 months, the minimum they could ask for under sentencing guidelines, with half served in home confinement.  Abramoff is serving nearly six years in prison for bribery and fraud. <h3 style="text-transform: capitalize; margin: 30px 0px 5px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Categories</h3>Zone_41 | Zone_41 | Zone_41 | Zone_41<h3 style="text-transform: capitalize; margin: 30px 0px 5px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Sources</h3><ul style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 13px; line-height: 16.7999992370605px;"><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.Steven_Griles</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=J.Steven_Griles</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/06/politics/main693628_page2.shtml</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300581.html</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR2007040301576.html ?nav=hcmodule</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601793.html</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/23/politics/main2600761.shtml</li><li style="margin: 25px 0px;">http://web.archive.org/web/20021003230746/http://sundaygazettemail.com/news/News/200 2092812/</li></ul></div></div>

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