Does Halliburton ring a bell, Ish?
Some links and excerpts.
The Cheney Energy Plan:
Technically Unsound and Unsustainable:
ieer.org
and
"When money determines who has access, it can determine whose interests are nourished." - Houston Chronicle editorial on the Bush-Cheney energy plan (5/28/01)
The energy industry contributed tens of millions of dollars to federal candidates in the last election cycle. Roughly 75 percent of that money - more than $48.3 million - went to Republicans,...
Vice President Cheney declined to meet with environmentalists because he said he did not have the time....
"Just because somebody makes a campaign contribution doesn't mean that they should be denied the opportunity to express their views to government officials." - Vice President Dick Cheney[23 ]...
Shortly after his inauguration, Bush formed an energy transition team dominated by corporate representatives, most of whom gave generous campaign contributions to Bush and the Republican Party...
Where the George H.W. Bush administration developed a national energy policy with open proceedings and held 18 public hearings across the country, George W. Bush's administration conducted its three months of work behind closed doors.[19 ] NRDC submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Energy asking for information about the identities of task force staff members, outside participants, meeting schedules and deliberations, but the agency has yet to provide this information. Other agencies involved in energy policy formulation have rebuffed inquiries from members of Congress (through the General Accounting Office) who have voiced similar concerns about the task force's undemocratic process.[20 ]...
For companies seeking federal subsidies, expanded access for fossil fuel development on public lands, and relaxed environmental regulations - the very policies outlined in the Bush-Cheney energy plan -making contributions to the GOP may turn out to have been a profitable investment...
As a result of a relentless campaign by fossil fuel companies - which, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, contributed $25.5 million to Republican campaigns in 2000 - the White House has lobbied the Justice Department to drop enforcement lawsuits against these polluters.
Bush's energy plan directs the Justice Department to consider reversing "existing enforcement actions" against power plants that are facing federal lawsuits for violating air quality standards. Three of the companies - FirstEnergy, Southern Co. and Cinergy - collectively gave more than $2 million to the Republican Party and the Bush presidential campaign last year.[30 ] Pete Burg, CEO of Akron-based FirstEnergy, which pumped more than $449,000 in soft money into Republican coffers last year, personally lobbied Vice President Cheney etc.....
...Lawyers at Justice were "astounded" that the administration would blindside them on a law enforcement issue that was "supposed to be out of bounds from politics."...
nrdc.org |
