Posted on 02/10/2013 4:13:41 PM PST by Nachum
This week the Department of the Interior grandly announced plans for its March oil and gas lease sale in the Central Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The announcement might have been more fitting for Groundhog Day.
DOI: 38 Million Acres in Gulf of Mexico Up for Grabs
To follow through with President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand domestic energy production, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that the upcoming Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 227 will offer 38.6 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development. …
“The Obama Administration is fully committed to developing our domestic energy resources to create jobs, foster economic opportunities, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in a released statement. “Exploration and development of the Gulf of Mexico’s vital energy resources will continue to help power our nation and drive our economy.”
Why is this not news?
Lease sales just like this one have occurred nearly every single year since the current area-wide leasing scheme was put in place by President Reagan’s Interior Secretary, James Watt, in 1982. (I say “nearly” because the Obama Administration cancelled regularly-scheduled offshore lease sales in a regulatory overreaction to the BP oil spill in 2010.)
That means that virtually every single acre of the 38.6 million offered has been available before. Some of them have been available every year for 30 years and have never received a bid.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
From en.wikipedia
Sylvia V. Baca is a former employee of BP Oil that was appointed by Barack Obama’s Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on June 18, 2009 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Ms. Baca was the general manager for Social Investment Programs and Strategic Partnerships at BP America Inc. As part of her duties at the Department of Interior she oversees the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
From happier times;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRW7pITY5Cg
Baca's career in government began in New Mexico. She went to school in Albequerque, at the University of New Mexico, and earned a master's in public administration.
In New Mexico, she held a series of positions on the state and city level that focused on the government's spending. She oversaw a minority and small-business development program, worked on the staff of the state's Legislative Finance Committee, which offers recommendations on budget issues and oversees performance audits, and was the director of finance and management for the city of Albuquerque.
Baca's work in both the public and private sectors puts her at the crossroads of exactly the kinds of issues facing energy regulators: how to balance energy extraction with safety and environmental concerns. Her work with BP also raised questions about the role of former private-sector employees in the Obama-era regulatory system. Revolving Door At Interior, Baca is barred from regulating or overseeing BP, her former employer, and DOI has made it clear that Baca is responsible for on-shore drilling, not the off-shore drilling that led BP to spill millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast in 2010.
Baca served under Clinton Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. While Baca was at BP Shipping and at BP America, those branches of the company were run by Bob Malone, a former BP executive who is a director at Halliburton and at Peabody Energy Corporation. Some of Baca's former employees are also still working on energy and environmenta; issues. Mike Pool, the deputy director for operations at Interior's Bureau of Land Management, was Baca's special assistant during her first stint at DOI. Kim Harb, a senior counseler at BLM, now works for the National Oceanic Industries Association, which represents energy interests in the outer continental shelf.
They invested in Brazilian oil companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico without any of the same environmental concerns. Then O went on to brag that we would be one of their best customers.
It seems that I recall some help to a foreign company drilling in the GOM; Mexico maybe?
Not every acre the US offers has water let alone oil or gas.
Yes, I think you’re right. 0bama helped Mexico get money for oil drilling. The Cubans let the Chinese drill in their waters too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
