Today you may have heard that President Obama made some remarks about the ongoing oil spill. In particular, you may have noticed he had a few words for one group of people especially:
"For too long, for a decade or more, there's been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill."
Were you wondering who "the federal agency that permits them to drill" is? And were you wondering just what is meant by the word "cozy"?
Me too.
I came across this in a very roundabout way: first, via The Plum Line, which directed me to a post by Joe Klein, of all people, who actually called on Dick Cheney to testify before Congress on his shady energy deals. Hey, stopped clock and all that.
And then, in the comments to Klein's post, I found a link to this (thanks, "Kevin"):
Government workers in Denver engaged in secret sex and drug abuse with oil company employees and accepted thousand of dollars in gifts while handling billions of dollars worth of energy contracts, federal investigators said today.
That was a story from September, 2008.
Really? Is that what it's all about? Sex and drugs?
Yep:
In the Royalty in Kind division of Minerals Management Service, the report said, "between 2002 and 2006, nearly one-third of the staff socialized with, and received a wide array of gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies with whom RIK was conducting official business...these employees accepted gifts with prodigious frequency."
None of this is especially new to this site, and some of you may even remember the story. Still, the details stunned me:
In addition to the sex, drugs, and gifts, the employees are accused of rigging contracts, improperly helping oil company workers fix problems with their contracts, and working part-time as private oil consultants [according] to three reports released today by the Interior Department's Inspector General.
The people in charge of granting oil leases were easily seduced.
Were? Maybe they still are. Back to 2008:
During the past year, in September and again in May, inspector general reports have portrayed MMS as a nest of conflict, lapsed controls and potential criminal conduct. Last year, the division collected $11 billion from fees charged to oil, gas and mining companies for extracting offshore minerals in addition to production on federal and Indian lands. The report notes that MMS is one of the federal government's largest sources of non-tax revenues.
MMS officials have allowed certain oil companies to skirt bidding procedures, modify sales contracts and avoid paying interest on royalties owed to the government, according to documents.
This article was specifically about the Denver office of the Minerals Management Service, but I don't doubt it could just as easily refer to the agency as a whole. The agency that President Obama said was "cozy" with oil companies.
"Cozy" may not be the right word. When I hear "cozy", I'm more likely to think of a comfy chair and a good book rather than sex and drugs and handing over our environment to reckless criminals, but maybe that's just me.
I applaud President Obama for the proposal he announced today:
And so I’ve asked Secretary Salazar to conduct a top-to-bottom reform of the Minerals Management Service. This week, he announced that the part of the agency which permits oil and gas drilling and collects royalties will be separated from the part of the agency in charge of inspecting the safety of oil rigs and platforms and enforcing the law. That way, there’s no conflict of interest, real or perceived.
I won't sit in judgment of how long it took him to take this step. Fuck knows how many federal agencies are thoroughly diseased and corrupted by the previous administration, and what a daunting task it must be to comb through all the rot and attempt to clean it up. Better late than never.
I'll simply give him credit for taking the right step. That agency needs an enema.