Meet James Steven Griles - former Deputy Secretary of Interior

[LSK]

"Steve Griles was confirmed as Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior on July 12, 2001. Griles was formerly a principal with National Environmental Strategies, Inc. (NES), a consulting firm providing advice to companies, trade associations and others with regard to policy, regulatory, environmental and energy issues at the Federal and State government level.

Prior to joining NES, Steve was Senior Vice President for Public, Environmental and Marketing Activities for the United Company. Located in Bristol, Virginia, the United Company was a diversified natural resources company with select diversification in non-energy areas, with operations in coal, oil and gas, cogeneration, gold mining, manufacturing, real estate, hotels, and golf operations with both domestic and foreign interests."

http://www.doi.gov/bio/griles.html

"The former number two at the Interior Department under Gale Norton, Griles, a 57-year-old from Halifax County, Virginia, has moved in and out of government for more than 20 years, becoming a prime example of Washington's revolving-door syndrome. On February 1, just days after leaving his post as deputy secretary of Interior, Griles took a job as a principal at Lundquist, Nethercutt and Griles, a powerful Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm that represents major energy corporations such as BP and Exelon.

Griles first came to the department in 1981 under Interior Secretary James Watt, during the Reagan administration, serving as deputy director for the Office of Surface Mining. In the 1990s, he worked for the D.C.-based energy lobbying firm National Environmental Strategies. In 2001, as deputy secretary, Griles became instrumental in streamlining regulations to speed the approval process for mountaintop-removal coal mining. The practice, which environmentalists and Appalachia residents refer to as "an environmental apocalypse," involves blasting away mountaintops, leaving behind tons of potentially toxic rubble and sludge. Griles also supported a new rule allowing mining companies to dump the debris in nearby waterways; some 1,200 miles of Appalachian streambeds have already been buried by the procedure.

SOUND BITE: "Griles allowed the coal industry to rape the people and the environment of Appalachia," says Judy Bonds, director of the Whitesville, West Virginia-based environmental group Coal River Mountain Watch. "He either thinks we're second-class citizens or he doesn't even know we exist."

http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200505/counter-enviroment-power-list-18.html

The firm of Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles LLC is a registered lobbyist in the U.S. House of Representatives.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lundquist%2C_Nethercutt_%26_Griles_LLC

http://clerk.house.gov/pd/houseID.html?reg_id=36345

[Betsy Ross]

1. He knows you exist. He just doesn't care. n/t

[lostnfound]

2. A couple articles on Griles from Counterpunch

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06282003.html Steven Griles, Big Oil's Inside Man

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair09132003.html Anatomy of a Swindle, Land Fraud as Government Policy

There was one more in October 2004 which was good called "Getting Paid for Plunder: the Profitable Life of Steve Griles" but it's not available online.

[stop the bleeding]

3. awesome find ! n/t

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4. People this is a BIG DEAL - if you know who Michael Brown is then

you will want to read this article.

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5. Mmmmm Hmmmm

people need some education:kick:

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6. .

:dem:

[mzteris]

7. Another example of

Fox/Henhouse syndrome run amuck in buscho.

Sickening, but not surprising.

[Dunvegan]

8. This is a disgrace.

But, I sure * thinks Griles is doing "A heckuva job."

[stop the bleeding]

12. anything that favors Big Corporation is a positive in *'s eyes n/t

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14. .

:kick:

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16. .

:yourock:

[Skidmore]

9. Griles also testified in front of that hearing McCain & Dorgan

heard on the scamming of the Indian tribes. He did a lot of lying. Bought & paid for by Abramhoff to influence the Dept. of the Interior.

[tyedyeto]

10. And he is also involved in the Abramoff scandal as well

Watching CSAN re-runs of the McCain/Dorgan hearings, there he was...right in the middle of it, testifying back in November.

More here about the hearings

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701682.html

[AlCzervik]

13. i watched the hearing that he was at, he was beet red.

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11. .

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15. kicking for awareness - DU still does not get it yet. n/t

[RazzleDazzle]

17. I hear ya

:shrug:

[Clara T]

18. kick for info

[Maraya1969]

19. Just sent a blistering letter to mother, born and raised in WV. My

brother and I were born there also. If my mother makes another excuse for this God Damned evil whore in the White House I am going to explode.

There have been other mine accidents but as far as I remember they have all survived before this one.

I could not understand why 8 hours after the explosion no one was starting the rescue effort. A group from Indiana arrived around then. Why couldn't they have flown them up - with equipment. They can fly fucking equipment?

I was very upset about the rescue effort but I kind of decided that I did not have enough information to be judging. Now I understand what has happened. The anti-Christ was involved.

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20. from the LBN section of DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2026455

[rodeodance]

21. i saw a report-the 'town' does not want to fingerpoint. seems they are

confident and trust the mining co. to fix things--that is the message I got. Maybe they are protecting their jobs. i think it was msnbc this morning.

[stop the bleeding]

22. Thats like a bunch of chickens protecting Col. Sanders - when will these

people ever learn?