“I am calling a two-year ‘Time-Out’ from all new mining claims in the Arizona Strip near the Grand Canyon,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, “because we have a responsibility to ensure we are developing our nation’s resources in a way that protects local communities, treasured landscapes, and our watersheds,” said Secretary Salazar.

Nearly one million acres of federal lands near the Grand Canyon have been set apart for deliberation for the next two years after careful consideration by the Department of Interior. Over the next two years, the Department of Interior will evaluate the land to determine whether it should be removed from new mining claims for the an additional twenty years.

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1872 saw the birth of a law that has governed American mining for over a century. It is the General Mining Act of 1872. While amendments have been made to the 1872 Act, we are still governed by what some would call “outdated” policy.

“We must find an approach to modernize the General Mining Law of 1872 and ensure that development occurs in a manner consistent with the needs of mining and the protection of the public, our public lands, and water resources,” said Interior Secretary Salazar today Before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

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Washington is starting to wake up to something that’s been obvious to marine scientists for years. The winds blowing off U.S. waters could be a key to a national clean energy and green jobs revolution.

On Tuesday, the federal government awarded five leases to three companies that want to develop wind turbines off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts for the production of renewable energy.

They’re the first such leases the Department of Interior has ever issued for the Outer Continental Shelf. If this official statement is any indication, they won’t be the last:

“We made the development of offshore wind energy a top priority for Interior. The technology is proven, effective and available and can create new jobs for Americans while reducing our expensive and dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”

The declaration comes as the U.S. Congress is in the midst of a debate over a proposal that would create a costly long-distance “transmission highway” to carry land-based wind energy (among other clean and dirty sources) from the Great Plains to the power-hungry cities of the American East.

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Is the U.S. Interior Department wrongly withholding information that will reveal whether taxpayers are being ripped off in a controversial oil and gas royalty program? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) seem to think so, according to a lawsuit they filed today. Interior claims that disclosure of bidding and contracting information about its Royalty-In-Kind (RIK) sales would reveal oil company trade secrets.

The Royalty-In-Kind Program is responsible for managing Minerals Revenue Management’s (MRM) commercial oil and gas sales activity. The RIK Program is currently selling over 800,000 MM-Btu of natural gas per day and over 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Simply put, Interior acts as an oil broker, selling this oil and gas in order to obtain its shares. Royalty payments on oil and gas from offshore tracts and public lands are one of the federal government’s greatest sources of non-tax revenues, making over $4 billion in 2007. RIK allows companies to pay federal royalties in the form of oil or natural gas rather than cash.

An investigation last September found that Interior employees (19 RIK marketers and other RIK employees - approximately 1/3 of the entire RIK staff) were engaging in sex and drug parties with oil officials, and 8 of the 19 employees received gifts exceeding the allowable limit.

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Salazar said his first order of business would be to clean up an Interior Department troubled with ethical lapses, in particular, the Minerals Management Service which was rocked by a sex, drugs, and corruption scandal last year.

But Salazar also described his vision for an agency that would look as hard (or harder) at developing wind farms and solar thermal plants as it has looked at developing coal, oil and gas in the past.

When pushed about the specifics of his policy positions, Salazar didn’t let on too much. He did not say, for example, whether he would support a reinstatement of the ban on oil and gas drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, which Congress allowed to expire last year. But it is quite likely that Salazar would, in fact, support limited offshore drilling in certain areas, as the senator signed on to the bipartisan “Gang of Ten” compromise proposal in the Summer of 2008 that would have allowed drilling off the coast of certain Southeastern states.

But Salazar was not completely opaque.

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Ah, the executive bathroom, one of the unheralded perks of holding a cabinet-level seat. But unfortunately for outgoing Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, the $236,000 renovation of the Main Interior Building Executive Suite bathroom was finally completed just in time to hand the keys over to Interior Secretary-nominee, Ken Salazar.

It is the first time any such renovations have been done at the building since it was built in 1936, but for $236K, that must be one heck of a water closet.

As part of the renovation, workers modernized and upgraded the plumbing, mechanical and lighting systems in the bathroom of the Executive Suite.  The modernization is part of a larger $243 million makeover of The Main Interior Building’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems in all of its office spaces.

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The Fish and Wildlife Service has called 15 people to Washington this week to speed read 200,000 comments in 32 hours.  The public comments are regarding a proposal by the interior department to exclude greenhouse gases and the advice of federal biologists from decisions about whether dams and power plants could harm species.

Dale Hall, Fish and Wildlife Service Director, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the short time frame for processing the comments was requested by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and, indeed would set a record.  Usually the review process takes months.

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Is it gross - sure. Yet the picture sums up the last eight years of foreign policy quite nicely, don’t ya think? We’ve suffered through too much of this cowboy politics crap (pun intended) to allow it to happen again.

But that’s exactly what we’re getting with Palin - more crap! Hell, even Colin Powell is jumping party lines because of this lady. It’s the same political myopia as George W. but with a nicer rack. For example, how could any politician admit to not focusing on the war in Iraq…much? What has she been doing since 2003? And can we afford another administration who thinks God speaks to them? Seriously, that kinda thing never really works out for the best.

More on Palin >>

From Think Progress

Palin Hasn’t Given The War In Iraq Much Thought. Palin told the Alaska Business Monthly, “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place.” [Alaska Business Monthly, 3/1/07]

Palin Has Never Been To Iraq. In her only trip overseas, Palin visited Alaska National Guard troops stationed in Kuwait and Germany in July 2007. [AP, 7/25/07]

Palin Believes That The Iraq War Is A Task ‘From God.’ Speaking at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in June, Palin said that “our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God.” [Huffington Post, 9/2/08]

Palin Believes The Iraq War Was Fought Over Oil. “We are a nation at war and in many [ways] the reasons for war are fights over energy sources,” Palin told BusinessWeek in an interview. [BusinessWeek, 8/29/08]

Palin Didn’t Have A Passport Until 2007. Palin first obtained a passport in July 2007 for her trip to Kuwait and Germany to visit Alaska National Guard troops. Her only other trips outside of the United States have been to Canada and Mexico. A Palin spokeswoman had previously said that Palin had also been to Ireland, although it was actually just a “refueling stop” on her Germany/Kuwait trip. [New York Times, 8/29/08; Politico, 9/2/08; ABC News, 9/12/08]

Palin Has Never Issued An Order To The Alaska National Guard. Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard, has stated that Palin has never personally ordered the National Guard to do anything. [McClatchy, 9/4/08]

Palin Is Unaware Of The Bush Doctrine. During an interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Palin was stumped about the Bush Doctrine, thinking it was the President’s “worldview.” [ABC News, 9/11/08]

Related posts:

Amy Poehler does the ‘Sarah Palin Rap’ on SNL [w/ video]
Palin Protests Federal Listing of Beluga Whales as Endangered
Setting the Record Straight: Sarah Palin and the Bridge to Nowhere

Image source: saintbob on Flickr

Can we afford to have our government fornicating with big oil when the integrity of our planet is at stake? Most definitely not. Palin’s record is already dirty enough to warrant a trip to the free clinic, and that’s just as Governor! What is she capable of if elected as VP?

From Think Progress

Palin’s Lobbyist Had ‘Close Ties’ To Don Young, Ted Stevens. “As mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Alaska’s most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July on charges of accepting illegal gifts.” [9/2/08]

Palin’s Lobbyist Was Part Of ‘Team Abramoff.’ Steven Silver, the lobbyist Palin hired as Wasilla Mayor, also listed Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig, as a client. Silver lobbied on issues similar to those headed up by Abramoff, including “Indian/Native American policy” and “legislation relating to gaming issues.” [TPMmuckracker, 9/2/08; Washington Post, 9/2/08]

Palin Served As Director Of ‘Ted Stevens Excellence In Public Service’ 527. Palin’s name was listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.,” a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. She also “served as one of three directors until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings.” [Washington Post, 9/1/08]

State Employee Charged Palin With Ethics Violation. A state employee filed an ethics complaint alleging Palin tried to secure a job for one of her supporters. The complaint accused Palin and her top staffers of “breaking executive ethics branch and hiring rules. It centers on the hiring of surveyor Tom Lamal, who once co-hosted a Palin fundraiser, for a state right-of-way agent job in Fairbanks.” [Anchorage Daily News, 9/7/08]

Palin Forced Top Wasilla Employees To Resign As Loyalty Test. As Mayor of Wasilla in 1998, “asked all of the city’s top managers to resign in order to test their loyalty to her administration.”[Daily Sitka Sentenial, 10/28/06]

Palin Fired Police Chief For Not Fully Supporting Her. After becoming Mayor of Wasilla, Palin fired the city’s police chief, Irl Stambaugh, writing, “I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment.” Stambaugh charged that Palin fired him “because he stepped on the toes of Palin’s campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association.” [Anchorage Daily News, 2/1/97; ABC News, 9/3/08]

Palin Used Mayoral Office Resources For Campaigning. During her 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor, Palin ordered campaign materials from City Hall, had them delivered there, and used city employees on city-aid time to arrange campaign events. According to the Anchorage Daily News, there was “no indication she repaid the city for the incidental expenses the city incurred.” [Anchorage Daily News, 7/21/06]

Palin Billed Taxpayers For Nights Spent At Home. Palin billed the state for “312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.” She also charged for travel expenses to take her children and husband on “official out-of-town missions.” [Washington Post, 9/9/08]

Related posts:

Sex, Lies and Oilgate: A Crude Analysis (Part One)
McCain’s 13-Car Footprint
Setting the Record Straight: Sarah Palin and the Bridge to Nowhere

Image source: Anderson Mancini on Flickr

<< Previous Post: The Environment, Part Two | Big Oil, Part Four : Next Post >>

Here’s where it gets real juicy! Like something straight out of a Kid Rock video, the allegations include drug use, sexual relations between federal employees and oil company employees, rigging oil contracts, working part-time as oil consultants, and accepting gifts like golf and ski trips. Somewhat amusingly, Devaney had this to say of the Minerals Management Service (MMS):

“Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms-length.”

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