Rick Scott Picks Shipbuilding Executive To Head Florida's Environment Agency

[hatrack]

Instead of picking someone from inside the agency, as his predecessor did, Gov.-elect Rick Scott on Monday selected a Jacksonville shipbuilding executive and sometime lobbyist as his top environmental regulator.

Herschel Vinyard Jr., 46, director of business operation for BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards, will become the newest secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. His appointment must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Vinyard, who could not be reached for comment, is also a former chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America, the trade association of the U.S. shipyard industry, and serves on the Jacksonville Port Authority.

His selection won a rave from Barney Bishop of the pro-business Associated Industries of Florida, and a shrug from Neil Armingeon of the St. Johns Riverkeeper, an environmental organization. "I'm almost at the point now where I'm not sure it matters who runs the agency, since the Scott administration plans to deregulate everything in Florida," Armingeon said.

Ed. - emphasis added.

EDIT

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/scott-picks-shipbuilding-executive-to-head-environmental-protection-agency/1143334

[Angry Dragon]

1. If he has been building boats for a while

he knows everything that is to know about water so he is the best choice
and he has lived on land, breathed air, what else does he need to know..........

[jpak]

2. Floriduh

yup!

:thumbsdown:

[madrchsod]

3. walker in wisconsin did the same thing....

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/state-and-regional/article_37d362e4-1499-11e0-83f0-001cc4c002e0.html

southern wisconsin and northern il share the same aquifers and rivers.....

[starroute]

4. BAE is not exactly a byword for honesty and transparency

I've just done a little googling, and BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards used to be the Atlantic Marine Holding Company operation in Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama until BAE acquired it last spring from Lehman & Company. (http://www.motorship.com/news101/bae-acquires-us-ship-repair-yards) This may explain the reason for the deal:

https://civiliancontractors.wordpress.com/tag/quadrennial-defense-review/

March 1, 2010

More than half of the panel members appointed to review the Pentagon’s latest four-year strategy blueprint have financial ties to defense contractors with a stake in the planning process, a USA TODAY analysis shows. . . .

One case that will require a recusal involves panelist Lehman, a former Navy secretary in the Reagan administration who was appointed to the committee by Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the armed services panel. Lehman runs an investment company specializing in defense holdings. His firm owns Atlantic Marine Holding Co., which repairs Navy ships in Mayport, Fla. The latest version of the review, released last week, recommends moving a nuclear aircraft carrier to Mayport from Norfolk, Va., which could mean more business for Atlantic Marine.

Lehman said he would recuse himself from reviewing the Mayport carrier issue and anything else that touched on his business interests. At the same time, he said, he and others with defense ties are capable of offering unbiased advice. Most defense experts have some financial affiliation with the defense industry, Lehman said, pointing out that the Defense Department does business with more than 33,000 companies and also funds university research.

“Could you find anybody who knows anything about defense who doesn’t have some potential conflict of interest?” he asked.

McCain appears to be pretty tight with Lehman -- I even found a photo online of him touring the Atlantic Marine shipyard during the 2008 campaign.

BAE, on the other hand, is a British firm with a long history of kickbacks and other corrupt practices, particularly in connection with the Saudis. Here's a story from just today:

http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=119042&rss=0

On 21 December 2010, BAE Systems Plc ("BAE") was fined £500,000 (plus £225,000 in costs) after pleading guilty under a settlement agreement with the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO"), to an offence under section 221 of the Companies Act 1985 of failing to keep adequate accounting records. The offence related to the accounting of very substantial commission payments made to an overseas agent for his services in assisting a BAE company to obtain a contract from the Tanzanian Government to supply a radar defence system. . . .

The sentencing hearing followed almost six years of investigation by the SFO into allegations of bribery and corruption in a number of deals that BAE had concluded in the Czech Republic, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Tanzania. The chequered history of the investigations and, in particular, the dropping of the investigations into the Al-Yamamah contract with the Saudi government are well known. Therefore, the circumstances and terms of the penalty imposed on BAE may be considered something of an anti-climax, but it must also be considered in light of the procedural and legal difficulties faced by the SFO in bringing corporate corruption cases to the Court.