Cheney energy task force ordered to turn over documents

CBS MarketWatch.com ^ | 7-8-03 | Rex Nutting

[SierraWasp]

12:10PM Cheney energy task force ordered to turn over documents by Rex Nutting

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney and the energy task force he headed in 2001 must reveal which industry executives helped formulate its recommendations for national energy policy, or else make a more specific case for executive privilege. In a 2-1 vote, the appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that a suit filed by Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club could proceed. The administration had sought a blanket exemption from laws that require federal agencies to conduct their business in public. The task force recommended increased production of domestic energy, but its recommendations were not fully adopted.

[SierraWasp]

Klayman and The Sierra Flub!!! Oh brother!!!

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[SierraWasp]

Dumb decision PING!

[SierraWasp]

The market is diving again on this news! No private sector involvement of a confidential nature allowed in a representative republican government is a deep chill to future economic progress!!!

[Dog Gone]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court Tuesday dismissed an appeal by lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney concerning a lawsuit seeking White House energy policy papers.

By a 2-1 vote, the appeals court panel dismissed the appeal on technical grounds, ruling the challenge was brought too soon and can be considered later after a final judgment has been entered by the judge presiding over the case.

The lawsuit seeking the energy policy papers was brought by the private watchdog group Judicial Watch and environmental group Sierra Club.

In an appeal on behalf of the vice president, government lawyers late last year asked the appeals court to step into the lawsuit, which was filed to seek documents on the energy task force that Cheney directed in 2001.

The administration has asked the appeals court to overturn the judge's "discovery" order telling the White House to either produce some task force documents or provide a detailed list of the documents it was withholding.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the administration last October to produce the documents or submit a detailed explanation of what they were withholding and why. That ruling stands as a result of the appeals court decision.

[Drango]

Judical Watch = egg suckin' dogs

[SierraWasp]

Why does the CBS article then claim that the executives must be NAMED? Your article only talks about PAPERS!

[Gabrielle Reilly]

ping.

[SierraWasp]

Is a self-ping similar in anyway to self-abuse? (grin)

[SierraWasp]

Yes! And so's the Sierra Flub!!!

[hove]

So....what's he got to hide???

[Alberta's Child]

I've read some information about those energy summit meetings, and from what I understand, the big issue about confidentiality revolves around proprietary information related to oil extraction techniques that can't be made public because of patents that are held by one or more energy giants.

If even half of what I've heard about that energy summit is true, then it'll be a cold day in hell before any of the proceedings are ever made public.

[Dog Gone]

I don't know, but the ruling was simply that it wasn't time for the court to make such a ruling. It wasn't "ripe", in legal parlance.

It's funny how different media reports pick the spin they want.

[SierraWasp]

"So....what's he got to hide???"

It's a constitutional "separation of powers" critical issue! Nobody's hiding anything!!!

Besides, it's a leftist attack on the status of the oldest US government program, called Capitalism by the Sierra Club aided by Kookie Klayman of all people!

[SierraWasp]

"It's funny how different media reports pick the spin they want."

Actually, it's not funny, which was my precise point!!!

[hove]

My mistake then. I read this in the article. " must reveal which industry executives helped formulate its recommendations for national energy policy"......and assumed that this was the contentious issue....not extraction methodologies. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

[BOBTHENAILER]

The market is diving again on this news! No private sector involvement of a confidential nature allowed in a representative republican government is a deep chill to future economic progress!!!

Very well said. You even had the GALL to use the libs favorite analogy when they get criticized for speaking idiocy:

"The comments of right wing conservatives against 'my right of free speech', has had a chilling effect on Democracy as a whole, not to mention my (career, family, dog, cat, etc.)."

[Alberta's Child]

Based on what I've heard, there were a lot of discussions about "national energy policy" that included specific roles for specific energy companies based on the equipment and extraction techniques they had at their disposal.

Ironically, this is precisely why it was so important to have a guy like Cheney with his Halliburton connections run that energy summit. Halliburton had no problem sharing some of their proprietary information because they knew they could trust the administration to keep it confidential.

On a separate note, were you aware that the "self-sealing" shaft drill used to rescue those coal miners in Pennsylvania last year was invented by Halliburton for use in oil drilling? Pretty interesting!

[hove]

"It's a constitutional "separation of powers" critical issue! Nobody's hiding anything!!! "

Well last time I checked....Cheney was the Vice President. Apparently he was formulating an energy policy for the good citizens of our great nation. And if I'm not mistaken, the gist of the article is that he is reluctant to disclose information regarding this process. So he does have something to hide....contrary to your assertion. My question again....what does he have to hide???

[Lunatic Fringe]

20 pts dow on the DJIA is hardly a "dive."