WP: GAO Cites Corporate Shaping of Energy Plan

Tuesday, August 26, 2003; Page A01

The White House collaborated heavily with corporations in developing President Bush's energy policy but repeatedly refused to give congressional investigators details of the meetings, according to a federal report issued yesterday.

The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said in the report that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham privately discussed the formulation of Bush's policy "with chief executive officers of petroleum, electricity, nuclear, coal, chemical and natural gas companies, among others."

An energy task force, led by Vice President Cheney, relied for outside advice primarily on "petroleum, coal, nuclear, natural gas, electricity industry representatives and lobbyists," while seeking limited input from academic experts, environmentalists and policy groups, the GAO said.

(snip)

The report provides Democrats with ammunition for their contention that Bush's energy policy is filled with favors for corporate interests. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), who joined the request for the GAO probe when he was chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said voters should know what role energy companies played in writing the policy. "They will never know the full truth because the White House chose to stonewall instead of cooperate with investigators," said Lieberman, a presidential candidate.

The report said several corporations and associations, including Chevron Corp. (now part of ChevronTexaco Corp.) and the National Mining Association, gave detailed energy policy recommendations.

ChevronTexaco declined to comment.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44891-2003Aug25.html

:kick:

Please continue discussion by posting in the original, earliest LBN thread on this topic, which can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=82655

I realize the above link refers to a slightly different story (a related Washington Post link is found further into the thread), but it's best to keep our discussion about Cheney's continued misgivings consolidated in the original thread. It would be helpful if you could post your article within that thread!

Thanks! :-)
VolcanoJen
DU Moderator