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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MSI who wrote (246988)	4/10/2002 10:50:04 PM
From: rich4eagle	Respond to of 769670

That was quite the post and exactly right on, but it will fail to deaf ears as they signal "heil Hitler"

To: MSI who wrote (246988)	4/10/2002 10:57:37 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush Energy Task Force Consulted Environmentalists 11-Apr-2002 2:10:15 GMT By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Energy Department consulted environmentalists while working on the Bush administration's energy policy last year, but in a rushed effort well after industry executives had their say, government documents released on Wednesday showed. Environmentalists have complained they were largely snubbed by administration officials who held dozens of meetings with executives from oil, coal and utility companies last year while the administration drafted an energy policy widely perceived as pro-industry. But the papers released on Wednesday showed the Energy Department did reach out to environmentalists such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace -- but not until late March, two months after the administration's energy task force was created and after many energy industry executives had made their suggestions about policy to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. The 950 pages were the second installment of documents released as a result of federal court orders in cases brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, and Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm. Dan Becker of the Sierra Club, an environmentalist called by Energy Department official Peter Karpoff and asked for his views, said he did not feel the consultation was serious. "This was extremely late in the process, and this guy called up, introduced himself and said he had to get the information in 24 hours," Becker, head of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy program, told Reuters on Wednesday after the documents were released. "I got the sense it was a pro forma request so they could say they got our input," Becker said. He said he made seven recommendations about energy policy, none of which ended up in the administration's energy plan. The Bush energy task force, headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, produced a policy in mid-May which called for more oil and gas drilling, as well as a revival of nuclear power. Environmentalists immediately complained that they were largely left out of the policy-making and began seeking the task force documents, ultimately going to court to get them. "NEED BY FRIDAY NOON" A March 21 memo released with the batch of documents instructs Karpoff to contact 11 environmental groups and get their policy ideas "by Friday noon" -- two days later. But the memo also suggests that only ideas that fit in with the administration's existing attitudes should be forwarded up the chain of command. "Can you contact these groups and get them to send you any energy policy options they are advocating?" the memo asks. "Can you then review the proposals and recommend some we might like to support that are consistent with the administration statements to date?" The memo is from Margot Anderson, deputy assistant secretary for policy in the department's Office of Policy and International Affairs. An Energy Department spokeswoman acknowledged Abraham had met energy executives, while lower level department officials talked to environmentalists about the energy plan. But she noted the energy task force was an inter-departmental effort, and said some environmentalists had met the head of the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency while the plan was being developed. "This was part of an ongoing process," she said. She also rejected the notion that environmentalists were contacted late, saying it was March 29 when staff from various departments first met to hash out recommendations for the energy plan. Anderson also complained not all of the environmentalists were responsive. "In general, we encountered a lack of responsiveness to the offer to submit ideas ... reflected in the paucity of callbacks and the occasional response of 'check our web site,"' she wrote in a letter to the General Accounting Office in August. By that time the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, was also seeking details of the energy task force. It has since filed suit against the White House and that suit is pending. The Energy Department on March 25 released the first set of 11,000 pages of documents related to the energy plan. The NRDC and Judicial Watch say they will contest in court the department's claim that it could not release another 15,000 pages of documents because they reflects internal discussions. (C) Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. bridge.com