Reply #4: Salazar was way too slow to clean up MMS. [View All]

MMS has a history of officials being too close to the people they were supposed to regulate:

On September 10, 2008, Inspector General Devaney found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service. In a cover memo, Devaney wrote “A culture of ethical failure” pervades the agency. According to the report, eight officials accepted gifts from energy companies whose value exceeded limits set by ethics rules — including golf, ski, and paintball outings; meals; drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game, and a Colorado Rockies baseball game. The investigation also concluded that several of the officials “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.” According to the New York Times, "The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior

The new directer came in July 2009. So almost a year to do something. Obama did not lead to the MMS being a mess, but Salazar did not act very fast or maybe he just didn't care.