Green Options » U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Water Use Declines Despite 30% Population Increase

Tina Casey — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:28 +0000

The U.S. Department of the Interior reports that overall water consumption in the United States has declined in the past 25 years, even though the population has increased 30% and use by individual American households has increased. The statistics were compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.

What’s the secret? The 25-year patterns of water consumption revealed in the DOI report provide tantalizing clues about the ability of the U.S. to sustain its legendarily consumer-centric lifestyle while stabilizing and ultimately decreasing its contribution to carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses.

Interior Sued to Obtain Oil Royalty Revenue Information

Ruedigar Matthes — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:08:18 +0000

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.

Bush Protects 48 Endangered Species in Hawaii While Ignoring 6 Western Species

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:30:17 +0000

In an unusual move for an administration that cares little for endangered species, the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed adding 48 species found only in Hawaii to the federal endangered species list this week. The administration claimed to be using a “newly developed, ecosystem-based approach to species conservation,” even though the Clinton administration used such an approach. In related news, the Center for Biological Diversity filed five lawsuits regarding Bush Administration political interference in designations for six western species, including the California tiger salamander, southwestern willow flycatcher, and western snowy plover. Noah Greenwald, science director for the Center for Biological Diversity stated:

The Bush administration has the worst record protecting endangered species of any administration since passage of the landmark Endangered Species Act. In the case of these six species, the administration’s malfeasance resulted in the removal of protection for over 300,000 acres of habitat in seven western states.

Maybe these species should move to Hawaii.

Via: World-Wire

Image: US Fish & Wildlife Service

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.”