Dick Cheney's 'energy task force' & Bush's 'anti-science' administration comes home to roost

[HughMoran]

...

The scientists, none of whom wanted to be quoted by name for fear of reprisals by the agency or by those in the industry, said they had repeatedly had their scientific findings changed to indicate no environmental impact or had their calculations of spill risks downgraded.

“You simply are not allowed to conclude that the drilling will have an impact,” said one scientist who has worked for the minerals agency for more than a decade.

“If you find the risks of a spill are high or you conclude that a certain species will be affected, your report gets disappeared in a desk drawer

and they find another scientist to redo it or they rewrite it for you.”

Another biologist who left the agency in 2005 after more than five years said that agency officials went out of their way to accommodate the oil and gas industry.

He said, for example, that seismic activity from drilling can have a devastating effect on mammals and fish, but that agency officials rarely enforced the regulations meant to limit those effects.

...

Responding to the accusations that agency scientists were being silenced, Ms. Barkoff added, “Under the previous administration, there was a pattern of suppressing science in decisions, and we are working very hard to change the culture and empower scientists in the Department of the Interior.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html?hp

The Obama administration has a LOT of work to do to undo what Bush/Cheney did to MMS in 8 years. Too bad we had to have such a massive disaster in order to light a fire under their asses.

[madmax]

1. k & r

[Owl]

2. When is all the task force stuff going to see the light of day?

Where is our "open government"?

[Botany]

3. Thanx Judges Thomas, Scalia, Kennedy, O'Conner, and Rehnquist

[spanone]

4. cheney's secrets with the titans of the oil industry will probably never be revealed

you'd think in light of our waters being fouled, possibly beyond repair, that the citizens would be clamoring for this information...

[HughMoran]

5. "you'd think"

You'd think Cheney would be in jail by now, but no, he gets to spew his vile crap without fear of reprisal.

[spanone]

6. it sickens me on a daily basis

[HughMoran]

10. The 'man' is pure evil

[Botany]

8. Dick had this on his desk in Feb. March 2001

According to Sec. Paul O'Neil

[BarbaRosa]

7. Fear and ignorance

that's all they had.

[Bitwit1234]

9. But still the tea bags and the radical right wing blowhards on the air

spew their hatred about the EPA and what they are trying to do. Any thing that would cost big business even a dollar extra these dumb a**es are against. How stupid can you be to rant, rave, dance and wave mis-spelled signs that are really against what you really want. The tea bags have to be extra extra stupid not to realize this. But what keeps them keeping on is the fact that Obama is president added to the fact that he is a Democrat.

And they still rant about raising taxes when we have the lowest tax rate in 10 or 15 years. See--- I told you they were stupid.

[HughMoran]

13. lowest tax burden in 60 years

U.S. Tax Burden Drops to Lowest Rate Since 1950
May 12, 2010 -- "The idea that US taxes are high now is pretty much nuts," according to Michael Ettinger, head of economic policy at the liberal Center for American Progress.

[amborin]

11. nope; Obama chose Salazar, who fought against court orders to stop hazardous drilling

who vowed to clean up MMS but did nothing

who issued permits with categorical exemptions, etc......

[HughMoran]

12. Someone had to blame Bush/Cheney on Obama

;)

[HughMoran]

14. kick, 1,2

[HughMoran]

19. 3

[The Damned]

15. K&R

[havocmom]

16. Coming soon: Let's move on and not prosecute last administration's criminals comes home to roost

Sometimes coming attractions are pretty ugly too.

[The Damned]

17. That would be SO impolite

to nice gentlemen like Cheney and Rumsfeld! :sarcasm:

[MajorChode]

18. That's what happens when you elect two untreated alcoholic oil men

Did anyone expect anything different?

[Scurrilous]

20. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Owl]

21. K&R