U.S. oil agency chief quits

Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON - The head of the troubled agency that oversees offshore drilling resigned under pressure Thursday, Democratic sources said, as President Barack Obama moved more aggressively to take charge of the Gulf oil spill.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar confirmed to NBC News that the head of Minerals Management Service resigned, despite earlier reports she was fired.

The departure of Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum came just hours before Obama's planned White House press conference on the oil spill, where he was expected to extend a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling.

It was a day of fast-moving developments in Washington and in the Gulf, where engineers worked with some apparent success to stanch the gushing leak five weeks into the catastrophe.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37377018/ns/gulf_oil_spill/

You can't quit, you're fired.

because if there is criminal activity, whether fraud, kickbacks, a pay check, or whatever, then perhaps she needs to be prosecuted. Someone who robs a bank is not given the option of quitting their job and moving on. And my guess is that if these government officials were particularly good servants for Big Oil, then they'll probably be taken care of as they exit their government jobs by these corporations.

in the oil industry, i'd bet

:hi: ;)

:hi:

her background was in conservation, but she did not have background in oil drilling