{"id":4148,"date":"2010-06-06T22:19:19","date_gmt":"2010-06-07T02:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=4148"},"modified":"2010-06-06T22:23:36","modified_gmt":"2010-06-07T02:23:36","slug":"national-energy-policy-development-group-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/06\/national-energy-policy-development-group-2001\/","title":{"rendered":"National Energy Policy Development Group [2001]…"},"content":{"rendered":"
Within the first month after his inauguration, Vice President Dick Cheney convened what is now known as Cheney’s Energy Task Force<\/font><\/strong><\/u> [National Energy Policy Development Group<\/a>]<\/strong>. He went to the Supreme Court to keep the proceedings of those meetings secret, successfully arguing that he had the right to get confidential advice. What is known about the conference is that the big oil executives played a large role in that conference and that the used maps showing the potentialoil fields in Iraq. Cheney stepped down as CEO of Halliburton, an oil drilling company, to run for Vice President. And his views on the role of government inAmerican business were well known. in 1998, in a speech at the Cato Institute<\/strong> entitled Defending Liberty in a Global Economy<\/strong><\/a>, he lamented the naivety of our policymakers who he felt did not recognize the importance of American Corporations as a "strategic asset" and did not fully understand the world economic situation: <\/p>\n
\n
I think it’s important for us to look on U.S. businesses as a valuable national asset, not just as an activity we tolerate, or a practice that we do not want to get too close to because it involves money. Far better for us to understand that the drive of American firms to be involved in and shape and direct the global economy is a strategic asset that serves the national interest of the United States.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
One of the problems we face, I think, is that we have far too many policymakers who lack any real understanding of what the modern world economy is all about or how it actually functions. I am concerned that we have a lot of policymakers who may be wise in the ways of Washington, but are, frankly, naive about the way the world economy works. I think they tend to still view international commerce as a process by which nations trade a few agricultural commodities and some manufactured goods and that is it. They believe that commerce is easily controlled and regulated by national governments, and that, if necessary, the United States can isolate itself from the rest of the world’s economy and remain prosperous.<\/div>\n
… <\/div>\n
National boundaries simply do not mean what they used to mean economically. The vast flows of capital and technology, the internet, the tremendous growth in services moving back and forth across international borders and between centers of economic opportunity and activity around the globe, have dramatically transformed what we think of as the world’s economy. We need enlightened political leadership that understands and comprehends the complexities of the world economy. All too often these days that leadership appears to be lacking. <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, in his 1999 speech<\/strong><\/a> at the London Petroleum Institute<\/strong> in London, he spoke to the assembled oil barons about the some of the problems in oil acquisition: <\/p>\n

\n
Governments and the national oil companies are obviously controlling about ninety per cent of the assets. Oil remains fundamentally a government business. While many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the Middle East with two thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So his Energy Task Force was suspect from the start. Initially, he wouldn’t even say who he met with. It was years before the participants were known: <\/div>\n

\n
  Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force<\/a>
Washington Post<\/strong>
By Dana Milbank and Justin Blum
November 16, 2005<\/div>\n

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney’s energy task force in 2001 – something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress. <\/p>\n

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco [before its merger with Phillips], Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated. <\/p>\n

In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Conoco Phillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate "to my knowledge," and the chief of BP America Inc. said he did not know. <\/p>\n

Chevron was not named in the White House document, but the Government Accountability Office has found that Chevron was one of several companies that "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the task force. In addition, Cheney had a separate meeting with John Browne, BP’s chief executive, according to a person familiar with the task force’s work; that meeting is not noted in the document. <\/p>\n

The task force’s activities attracted complaints from environmentalists, who said they were shut out of the task force discussions while corporate interests were present. The meetings were held in secret and the White House refused to release a list of participants. The task force was made up primarily of Cabinet-level officials. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club unsuccessfully sued to obtain the records…<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
Energy Task Force Meetings Participants<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n

Vice President Cheney’s energy task force had a busy spring in 2001. While drafting a national energy policy, the group, chaired by Cheney, met with approximately 300 groups and individuals, ranging from the American Petroleum Institute to Defenders of Wildlife. Below, a list of individuals and organizations who met with the energy task force, as detailed in a document provided to The Post by a former White House official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/strong><\/td>\nAffiliation<\/strong><\/td>\nDate<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greg Moredock<\/strong><\/td>\nCabot Energy<\/td>\nMarch 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jim Rouse<\/strong><\/td>\nExxon<\/td>\nFeb. 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ralph J. Goehring<\/strong><\/td>\nBerry Petroleum Co<\/td>\nMarch 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Martini<\/strong><\/td>\nCal Independent Petroleum Assn<\/td>\nMarch 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Red Cavaney<\/strong><\/td>\nAmerican Petroleum Institute<\/td>\nMarch 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graham Ban<\/strong>–<\/td>\nBP<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Deb Beaubien<\/strong><\/td>\nBP<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peter Davies<\/strong><\/td>\nBP<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bob Malone<\/strong><\/td>\nBP<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eli Bebout<\/strong><\/td>\nNucor Oil & Gas<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
William Terry Smith<\/strong><\/td>\nTidelands Oil Production Co<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Steen Parker<\/strong><\/td>\nTidelands Oil Production Co<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
William Dozier<\/strong><\/td>\nVintage Petroleum Inc.<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Larry Bates<\/strong><\/td>\nVintage Petroleum Inc.<\/td>\nMarch 22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wayne Gibben<\/strong><\/td>\nCONOCO<\/td>\nApril 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alan Huffman<\/strong><\/td>\nCONOCO<\/td>\nApril 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alby Modiano<\/strong><\/td>\nCONOCO<\/td>\nApril 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Archie Dunham<\/strong><\/td>\n –<\/td>\nMarch 21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Brown<\/strong><\/td>\nSinclair Oil<\/td>\nMarch 21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Clint Ensign<\/strong><\/td>\nSinclair Oil<\/td>\nMarch 21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kathi Wise<\/strong><\/td>\nSinclair Oil<\/td>\nMarch 21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willie Hensley<\/strong><\/td>\nAlyeska Pipeline Service Co<\/td>\nMarch 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lindsay Hooper<\/strong><\/td>\nSmall Refiners Group<\/td>\nMarch 15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Freer<\/strong><\/td>\nMarathon Oil, Conoco, Amerada<\/td>\nMarch 29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rick Shelby<\/strong><\/td>\nAGA Leadership Council<\/td>\nMarch 26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart<\/strong><\/td>\nShell Oil<\/td>\nApril 17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Steven Miller<\/strong><\/td>\nShell Oil<\/td>\nApril 17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jerry Halverson<\/strong><\/td>\nInterstate Natural Gas Assn<\/td>\nMarch 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rick Roldan<\/strong><\/td>\nNational Propane Gas Assn<\/td>\nApril 20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lisa Bontempo<\/strong><\/td>\nNational Propane Gas Assn<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Then, there was this map from the conference obtained via FOIA:<\/div>\n\n\n
\n

<\/p>\n

Cheney Energy Conference<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>
February-May 2001 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

It’s obvious that the enforcement of safety regulations in the oil drilling industry has eroded to a disastrous point. With the BP Oil Spill, it is already clear that there was a chronic pattern of corner cutting that lead up to what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. In light of the facts:<\/div>\n
    \n
  • \n
    The President and Vice President were heavily involved with the oil industry. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    The VP’s first act was to convene an energy conference with heavy representation from the oil industry. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    The result was a policy that obviously eroded our oversight of oil drilling, which became increasingly lax. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Another result was the Invasion of an oil-rich country [Iraq] based on trumped-up reasons. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    One result was the largest environmental disaster in our history. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Another result was the largest military disaster in our history. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    It seems reasonable to reopen making whatever went on in Cheney’s Energy Task Force<\/u> public. Was the Iraq War planned in that conference? Was the relaxation in drilling standards a direct outcome of that conference?<\/font><\/strong> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Within the first month after his inauguration, Vice President Dick Cheney convened what is now known as Cheney’s Energy Task Force [National Energy Policy Development Group]. He went to the Supreme Court to keep the proceedings of those meetings secret, successfully arguing that he had the right to get confidential advice. What is known about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}