Kelpie Wilson: From Teapot Dome to Gale Norton20 March 2006
From Teapot Dome to Gale Norton By Kelpie Wilson t r u t h o u t | Perspective From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031906Y.shtml Sunday 19 March2006
The rights of thepublic to the nation's natural resources outweigh privaterights. Teddy Roosevelt
Nothing dollarableis safe, however guarded. JohnMuir
As the Teapot Dome scandal ofWarren G. Harding's presidency was one milestone in thehistory of American resource piracy, the tenure of GaleNorton as Secretary of the Interior is surely another.
Harding's Interior Secretary, Albert Fall, failed in hisscheme to sell off the Teapot Dome oil reserves and pocketthe money. He was prosecuted and sentenced to a year inprison. Gale Norton's timely exit on the heels of theAbramoff scandal that implicates top Interior Departmentofficials could mean that she is worried, but it is notlikely that she will face any prosecution for her giveawaysto industry.
Harding, like G.W. Bush, had littleregard for proper English - Harding called for a return to"normalcy," while Bush says we should not "misunderestimate"him. On Harding's death, the poet E. E. Cummings said: "Theonly man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarativesentence with seven grammatical errors is dead." But just asBush surpasses Harding as a mangler of language, so the Bushadministration far outstrips the Harding administration inthe game of looting.
Gone are the days when corruptofficials took payments in "little black bags," as AlbertFall received his $100,000 payment for the Teapot Dome oillease from Harry F. Sinclair. Fall also received a shipmentfrom Sinclair of "six heifers, a yearling bull, twosix-months-old boars, four sows and ... an Englishthoroughbred horse."
Today our new reality is thatthe tycoons and the officials are actually the same persons,or at least part of the same hive. Like insects that gothrough a complex life cycle from larva to pupa tofegg-laying adult, people like Gale Norton and her deputysecretary Stephen J. Griles will go from lobbyist toregulator to corporate board member. At every stage of thelife cycle they have one purpose: to direct the flow ofresources back to the corporate nest.
And so, whenNorton claims she is leaving the Interior Department to set"new goals to achieve in the private sector," you know thatshe will be well supplied with hogs, heifers and whateverlucrative lawyering job she wants.
Gale Norton'snumber one tool, which she used like a common thief slips acredit card up a door jamb to spring a cheap lock, is theideology known as "Wise Use." The "Wise Use" doctrine isfounded on anti-government rhetoric that advocateseliminating any environmental regulations that mightrestrict economic development. Because she was so well knownas a "Wise Use" ideologue, only John Ashcroft was a morecontroversial cabinet appointment in Bush's first term.
During her tenure as Secretary, Norton advanced this agendathrough regulatory rollbacks, suppression of science,preferential treatment, and collusion with industry. For themost part, she was unable to enshrine "Wise Use" principlesin regulations, with the exception of her new National ParkService regulations.
Norton proceeded to revamp thePark Service regulations despite the lack of any identifiedneed for new rules. Now in the final phase of adoption, thenew directive drastically changes the mission of ournational parks from preservation to commercially sponsoredrecreation. If these rules are adopted, park managers won'tbe able to prevent development that harms wildlife and othernatural features, and corporate logos will spring up likedaisies.
These rules also require newly hired staffto take what amounts to a loyalty oath to the policies ofthe current administration. A loyalty oath may be thesolution to the sticky problem of science that Norton keptrunning into. When her agency biologists reported thatdrilling in the Arctic Refuge would harm caribou, Nortonrewrote the report before submitting it to Congress. Shealso suppressed a finding by the US Fish & Wildlife Servicethat new Army Corps rules for permitting development woulddevastate wetlands.
In fact, Norton created a climateof intimidation at the Interior Department that functionsalmost as effectively as an unconstitutional loyalty oathwould: Last year the Public Employees for EnvironmentalResponsibility took a survey of Fish & Wildlife Servicebiologists and found that more than half of the respondentssaid agency officials had reversed or withdrawn thebiologists' scientific conclusions under pressure fromindustry groups.
Lying to Congress and suppressingscientific findings. How is it that these are notprosecutable offenses?
In 2001, Oregon potato farmersin the upper portion of the Klamath River suffering from aprolonged drought demanded that the Interior Department givethem water dedicated to fish. Gale Norton complied, and in2002, at least 35,000 salmon died at the mouth of theKlamath. The Klamath runs are now so low that the FisheriesService is preparing to close the salmon fishing season,ruining a $150 million dollar industry. Gale Norton isresponsible. Why can't she be indicted for ruining aprecious and irreplaceable natural resource?
Norton'ssupporters, like the National Association of Manufacturers,praise her primarily for her role in opening up the West tomassive amounts of new energy development. InteriorDepartment staff began referring to Colorado, Wyoming andNew Mexico as the "OPEC states," as the drilling permitsmultiplied and flew through the bureaucracy with minimalreview and consultation with local citizens.
Norton'sown proudest accomplishment, she says, was implementing her"four C's" program - a supposedly new approach to publicinvolvement that included "communication, consultation andcooperation, all in the service of conservation."
Unfortunately, the four C's seem only to apply to industryand not to local people. Take for instance the town of GrandJunction, Colorado. Last September the BLM informed the citythat a few hundred acres in the town's watershed used fordrinking water supplies would be offered for oil and gasdrilling. Then in December, at the end of the public commentperiod, the BLM told the town that actually several thousandacres would be leased for drilling. The agency withheld theinformation because it would otherwise "taint" thecompetitive bidding process. The town does not want anydrilling at all in their watershed. Why can't Gale Norton beindicted for destroying a town's water supply?
I cantestify that the same process is happening in BLM's westernforest lands where, on orders from Gale Norton, the BLM istossing the Northwest Forest Plan out the window andpreparing to log every last old growth forest that theymanage in Washington, Oregon and California. Many publicmeetings are held, but they are all a waste of time becausethe communication, consultation and cooperation are notintended for local people but only for the timber industry.
Under Gale Norton's leadership, the Department ofInterior has become nothing less than a big box store forthe mining, timber, oil, gas, and coal industries. As CEO,Norton has eliminated all rivals to give her corporatecustomers "low, low prices every day." Meanwhile, fish andwildlife and all the rest of us who need clean air and waterunderwrite the true cost.
Bush's new nominee forSecretary of the Interior, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne,is known for his animosity toward protecting the last wildroadless areas in Idaho. Unless something changes inCongress or the White House, unless Gale Norton is somehowmade to pay the price for her looting of public resources,there is no doubt that he will keep the store open forbusiness.
*************
Kelpie Wilson is the t r u t h o u tenvironment editor. A veteran forest protection activist andmechanical engineer, she writes from her solar-powered cabinin the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestOregon.
THIS ISSUE Lead NZ News NZ Politics World News FeaturesComment & Opinion Upton-On-Line: The Latest Diaspora Edition - The annual French Salon de l Agriculture takes place amidst self-doubt and virally induced gloom; James Lovelock preaches climate apocalypse and nuclear salvation; and Simon Upton opines on a recently published report, Closing the Net, which brings to a close an interesting experiment in trying force the pace of international action on illegal high seas fishing. See... Upton-on-line Diaspora Edition 15th March 2006
Book Review: How To Work Less And Live More - How do you fund the life you want when you are no longer part of the daily grind? When you do get to the stage of wanting to step back and have an easier lifestyle how do you know you have enough? Best-selling financial author, Martin Hawes shows you how to plan the life you want, maximise your financial potential in your earning years and recognise when the time is right to make the break and re-organise your finances to sustain your new lifestyle.See... Book Review: Martin Hawes' Twenty Good Summers
Anthony Ravlich: New Zealand's Role In The New UN Human Rights Council - Countries with a more balanced approach to human rights at the international level, such as New Zealand, should be used in peace-maker roles on the new United Nations Human Rights Council. See The New United Nations Human Rights Council
Remi Kanazi: America Has Lost The War In Iraq - America has lost the war in Iraq. The chance for victory vanished long ago with the hearts, minds, arms, legs and lives of the Iraqi people. The insurgence hasn t won; rather the American government never obtained the formula to win. America, led by war-bent hawks (Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz) entered this war with many interests. In this excess of interests, the US neglected a major factor in the equationathe Iraqi people. See... Accepting Reality: America Lost the War in Iraq
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION: Russell Brown et Ors. - Public Address 15/03/06 - Strange World Martin LeFevre - Meditations: The Scientific & Religious Mind Genevieve Cora Fraser - Hamas Rightly Demands Palestinian Rights Ramzy Baroud - Remembering a Valiant Journalist: Atwar Bahjat BuzzFlash.Com - How America Won the Vietnam War, By Losing Scoop Link - US Contractor With Bombs & Guns Arrested In Iraq Gabriele Zamparini The Insane Society William Fisher - How To Lose Friends And Encourage Extremists Translation by Sol Salbe - Sharon Kaduri: Let The Palestinian Fix It Bernard Weiner - The Middle East Muddle: Is Peace Still Possible? William Engdahl - No, The Iran Oil Bourse Is Not A Casus Belli Guest Opinions On Nepal - Nepal: Unmasking The Real Obstacle To Peace , Bhola Rana: Camp Visit to Nepal Constructive & Terrorists Have No Right To Rule The Nation Between The Lines - US Park Service Cuts Imperils Infrastructure, Anti-Abortion Forces Try to Overturn Roe vs. Wade & Soldiers in Iraq Overwhelmingly Favor Withdrawal Evelyn Pringle - Pfizer Makes List Of Worst Corporate Evildoers Dipta Shah - An Integrated Response To An Integrated Challenge
Katya Rivas's Passion: Serialised For Lent (Part 9) - I was taken before Caiaphas, where I was received with jeers and insults. One of his soldiers struck My cheek. It was the first blow I received and in it I saw the first mortal sin of many souls who, after having lived in grace, committed that first ... See... Katya Rivas: Jesus Is Taken before Caiaphas SEE ALSO: Part 8 - Katya Rivas: Judas Delivers JesusPart 7 - Katya Rivas: Jesus Looks for His DisciplesPart 6 - Katya Rivas: Jesus Does the Will of the FatherPart 5 - Part 4 - Part 3 - Part 2 - Part 1
CLICK HERE FOR MORE RECENT COMMENTARYQuick Retirement CalculatorTarget 110 000 ConsumersNZ REAL ESTATE OnlineBook Cheap FLIGHTS OnlineCalculate YOUR NETWORTHTRAVEL: Packages & Deals!MORTGAGE Calculators #this_text { text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;}#this_text a { font-family: "Verdana", sans-serif; font-size: 90%; color: #943517; text-decoration: underline;}#this_text a:hover { font-family: "Verdana", sans-serif; font-size: 90%; color: blue; text-decoration: underline;}RaboPlus: 7.35% On Call Savings Accounts, No Fees THE WIRES Scoops Parliament Politics World Business Sci-Tech Culture Education Regional Health SEARCH _m1svt='');
Source: scoop
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
The Shield Pro 2006
Related Articles
|
