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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (797)	9/21/2000 4:15:17 PM
From: ColtonGang	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

Ron, you should have lived near Three Mile Island in 1980 like me and been scared to death of a nuclear meltdown. It always comes down to dollars and cents with you guys........oil companies won't find new sources of energy unless there's big profit in it just like drug companies.........thank God for people like Jonas Salk and Crick and Watson who put the health of mankind ahead of profits!

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (797)	9/21/2000 5:21:25 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Ron, One "for the record" where this administration acted outside the law against the petroleum industry: US government sued for breach of contract on offshore leases 7/25/2000 Chevron USA Inc., Conoco Inc., and Murphy Exploration & Production Co. have filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying the companies' “timely and fair review” of plans, permits, and an appeal concerning an abundant natural gas field in the eastern US Gulf of Mexico. The companies are partners in a proposed natural gas development project centered on federal offshore leases in the Destin Dome 56 Field, 25 miles south of Pensacola, Florida. (Chevron is the operator of the Destin Dome 56 Unit Project. Each partner maintains a one-third interest in the project.) According to the Department of Energy, the field contains potential reserves of up to 2.6 tcf of natural gas. The US Court of Federal Claims complaint charges the US government with delaying and ultimately blocking the partners from developing the field. The project is pending a decision by the Department of Commerce. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency stopped processing environmental permits for the project, stating it would not resume work until the Department of Commerce rendered its decision. The Department of Commerce announced last month it would not render a decision on the project until the EPA completed the environmental permits. The partners allege this regulatory “Catch-22” constitutes breaches of lease contracts between the government and the partners and a “taking” of property rights as protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. The suit seeks compensation for lease bonuses and rentals paid to the federal Government, exploration costs, expenses incurred for the preparation of environmental studies and development plans, and opportunity costs associated with the project. “This lawsuit is brought because the federal government refused to honor its contractual commitments by creating regulatory and administrative blockages that breached the leases,” said Michael Smith, Chevron's associate general counsel. Edited by Dev George Managing Editor, Oil and Gas Online oilandgasonline.com{AD2410F5-6231-11D4-8C55-009027DE0829}