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January 30, 2009 01:42 AM UTC

Salazar to Oil and Gas: "There is a New Sheriff in Town"

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  • by: progressivevoice

Cross-posted at www.progressivevoice.org

In his first return to Colorado as the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar stood in front of the Mineral Management Services (MMS) building in Lakewood, CO and announced, “There is a new sheriff in town.” Salazar addressed the public after a brief meeting with MMS employees. The MMS has been a hotbed for controversy stemming from connections of former Secretary Griles connection with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a sex and drug bribery scandal. Salazar announced a five step plan for dealing with the corruption and impropriety that took place under the previous administration, including a review of personal decisions and accounting records, a new ethical code for employees of the MMS to avoid “even the appearance of impropriety”, and a reform of the royalty program.

Salazar introduced former US attorney and senatorial candidate Tom Strickland as the man who will oversee a reexamination of the criminal accusations in conjunction with the Department of Justice. Strickland commented that “We want to make sure we can tell the people of this country…that the people who betrayed the public trust have been help accountable.”

The MMS is responsible for collecting royalties from oil and gas companies who drill on public land. Much of the controversy surrounding the MMS stems from work that happened at the Royalty In Kind (RIK) branch, which accepts gas instead of cash. According to the Inspector General’s report, as many as “1/3 of the entire RIK staff socialized with, and received a wide array of gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies with whom RIK was conducting official business.” Allegations in the report range from hotel rooms after parties, to drugs and sexual relations.

While it isn’t clear how much immediate western justice Secretary Salazar had in mind or could implement, the symbolism of the event was clear. Salazar is trying to make a clean break from the past of corruption (which unlike water, mixes well with oil). However, a simple review won’t cut it: while several individuals who conspired in the most blatant fashion has since left the RIK, if the Inspector’s report is to be believed, many of the current employees may have been party to accepting gifts, drugs or sex for favorable treatment. Numerous questions still remain, including why oil companies providing these bribes haven’t been exposed, how systemic these problems are, and the shape of the royalty program under the paradigmatically different Obama administration. One thing is certain, Sheriff Salazar came to shake up the Wild, Wild West of oil royalties.

Cross-posted at www.progressivevoice.org

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