Does everyone remember Dick Cheney's "National Energy Task Force"? The one where meetings were held in secret, and energy policy was set by the foxes in charge of the henhouse? Yeah, I figured you might.
The Center for American Progress has connected the dots between this task force, the Bush Administration energy policies, and Tom DeLay's leadership in the House of Representatives to paint a straight line right back to Cheney & Co. I don't agree with the conclusion of "Cheney's Katrina", so how about we call it "Cheney's Oil Apocalypse" instead?
How about we call it "OUR Cheney-caused Oil Apocalypse"?
Act One - The Administration complies
First, the SAFE Act is introduced in the House in 2001. It provides for the following (quotes from CAP post):
* Taxpayer funds to reimburse oil companies for the costs of complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (Sec. 6234)
* A suspension of royalties on tens of millions of barrels of oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico—especially from deepwater wells like the one now spewing into the gulf (Sec. 6202)
* Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling — with expedited leasing, limited judicial review, and lip service to environmental concerns (Div. F, Title V)
Check off one set of recommendations, though it took Cheney and Big Oil until 2003 to get it to a conference committee. Just after the midterms, Republicans guided the bill through the House, with DeLay twisting arms as needed. With Democrats safely in the minority, the conference committee was able to exempt all oil and gas construction activities from the Clean Water Act, force BLM lease approvals within 10 days, grant unprecedented authority to the Department of Interior to fast-track permits, and allocate $2 billion for oil companies to drill in ultra deepwater areas.
A filibuster in the Senate stopped it from becoming law. Then.
Act Two - If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...
Go...
It's unclear how the Cheney Energy Act will play out in the legal morass yet to come. What we should expect are many challenges by BP lawyers to any effort to claim damages under the Clean Water Act (given the exemptions) as well as challenges for liability beyond cleaning up the spill.
But whatever happens, dear viewers, know this: The responsible parties are George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Joe Barton, and Tom DeLay.
Repeat. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Get the word out. Put the spotlight on the real villains.
I wonder if the RICO Act might apply?
Just as an aside, if legal boilerplate doesn't give you a headache like it does to me, go read R.I.C.O. Lawsuit Against G.W. Bush. Tell me how it turned out, though I can guess that it went nowhere.
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