Success! Salazar Announces Investigation of Shady Bush Administration Oil Shale Deals

In the final few days before President Bush left office, his Interior Department worked out a sweetheart deal with oil companies, giving them great rates to destroy tracts of land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for oil shale. Nearly 10,000 Care2 members wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar this spring, urging him to oppose this reckless oil shale development. And this week, Salazar did just that.

An Interior Department press release has the details:

Secretary Salazar has also asked Interior’s Inspector General to investigate a set of favorable conditions and low royalty rates that were offered on January 15, 2009 — five days before the end of the previous administration — to energy companies holding existing RD&D [research, development and demonstration] leases. Secretary Salazar determined that the timing and circumstances of the previous administration’s modifications of existing RD&D leases — called lease addenda — merit additional review.

“Taxpayers deserve answers to serious questions about why these lease addenda were granted at the eleventh hour, under what circumstances, and at what potential expense to the federal treasury,” said Salazar. “We must reform our nation’s oil shale program and ensure that the American people have the promise of a fair return from their resources.”

The L.A. Times reports on a collusion between Shell (who stood to benefit most from these sweetheart deals) and Bush officials all the way up to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton (who now works for Shell…coincidence?).

Previously undisclosed internal e-mails from the Bush Interior Department and Royal Dutch Shell PLC — which held three leases and stood to benefit more from the amendments than any firm — show a concerted if uncoordinated effort to deal with the expected blowback to the amendments. The e-mails were obtained by The Times’ Washington bureau.

One Interior official sent an e-mail to colleagues describing the amendments as a “nuclear bomb” that would spark a hostile reaction from Colorado leaders and at the highest levels of the incoming Obama administration, which had already pledged to overhaul Bush administration energy development programs.

These previously undisclosed emails just serve to show how right Care2 members are in urging Secretary Salazar to oppose these midnight Bush deals. Keep signing petitions — they really do make a difference!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Chrysta S.

1:09PM PDT on May 7, 2012

Success! All of bush's greedy regulations need to be stopped!

send a green star

Frank S.

1:59PM PDT on Apr 19, 2012

Taxpayers deserve a lot of answers but we always just turn the other cheek like good little sheep I mean citizens. This topic was brought to light and will soon be buryied in Washington along with the rest of the garbage.
Wake up America your all being played like chumps.

Benny R.

11:29AM PDT on Apr 4, 2012

Get the big money out of politics - only then you just might end up with democracy truly representing people's voices.

angela w.

11:34AM PST on Feb 10, 2012

thanks

Kari T.

8:40AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

We need to shake our oil addiction. There is no way around it. We need to find better sources of energy.

8:39AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

Robert H.

7:52PM PST on Jan 30, 2012

If only the American public would take a greater interest in what is going on... and the Press take an honest approach to telling them what is going on. Maybe some day.

Ahron E.

8:11AM PST on Jan 4, 2012

L.B. shows her ignorance.

K. J. N.

8:00AM PST on Jan 2, 2012

Great to hear
Thank you

Josh T.

2:55PM PDT on Oct 7, 2011

Amazing success story.