Green Options » mms

Feds Agree on Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:28:58 +0000

Less than a week after the Interior Department published the findings of a report claiming that 25% of the nation’s electricity could be supplied by offshore wind farms, the Department also reached an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over how the two agencies would handle the permitting and licensing of all types of renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the United States.

On Thursday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff signed a memorandum of understanding (pdf) that establishes a streamlined process by which Interior’s Minerals Management Service and the FERC will lease, license and regulate all renewable energy development activities on the OCS.

U.S. Starts Process of Offshore Oil Drilling Near Virginia Coast

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:34:41 +0000

The federal government took steps on Thursday to begin oil and natural gas exploration off the coast of Virginia. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates that this area under consideration, beginning at least 50 miles offshore, may contain 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Sex, Lies and Oilgate: A Crude Analysis (Part One)

Jerry James Stone — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:04:44 +0000

Some U.S. government employees are in really hot water, and not the jacuzzi-shaped kind they’d like it to be. According to three reports delivered to Congress today, a $5.3 million investigation uncovered “a culture of ethical failure” amongst the Interior Department. The department’s inspector general - Earl E. Devaney - found that over a dozen current and former employees had engaged in such transgressions.

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.”