MMS chief of staff now works for BP

[charlesg]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDYpG6rF9SJmm5IfW6z9WV3KUY7AD9FUOKF03

INFLUENCE GAME: Govt regulators hired by companies
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP)

WASHINGTON — At a 2005 workshop, a senior official in the U.S. government's Minerals Management Service raised concerns about ultra-deepwater drilling and included the bullet point, "Few or no regulations or standards." Within two years, Jim Grant left his post as chief of staff of the government's Gulf of Mexico region to take a job with BP PLC — one of the companies his former agency regulated in its oversight of offshore drilling.

Grant's change is one example of the revolving door between the Interior Department's MMS and the oil industry, which increasingly has the attention of Congress, the Obama administration and watchdog groups after the disastrous BP oil spill at an ultra-deepwater rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

As BP's regulatory compliance and environmental manager for the Gulf of Mexico strategic performance unit, Grant has weighed in on several offshore drilling proposals by his former federal employer and other government agencies.

Last fall, speaking at a U.S. ocean policy task force, Grant cautioned the group to "carefully weigh policies that may establish exclusionary zones, disrupt the MMS leasing program or affect opportunities for economic growth," according to a statement posted at WhiteHouse.gov. He said BP supports access to areas previously off-limits to leasing, such as the eastern Gulf of Mexico. "It is our opinion that economic development of ocean resources is compatible with responsible ocean stewardship," he said.

[bvar22]

1. Don't stop with the Oil Industry.

The corrupt "revolving door" also exists between:

*Wall Street

*Factory Agriculture

*International Commerce

*Atomic Energy

*Insurance

*Political Campaigns

Every Single Corporate entity that our government is supposed to "regulate" enjoys the benefit of the corrupt "revolving door".

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. Youbetcha!

I am so tired of the parlor game.

[bullwinkle428]

2. The truth will eventually put "The Onion" out of business.

[blueworld]

4. I guess that defines "free market"; they can pimp themselves everywhere. n/t

[polichick]

5. Heard about this on NPR today - Salazar hired a BP exec...

"McKay also cited Sylvia Baca as someone who went from BP to Interior. She made the switch twice. In the Clinton administration, she served as the Interior Department's assistant secretary for land and minerals management and worked as the department's acting director of the Bureau of Land Management.

In 2001, Baca joined BP, where she worked in several senior management positions. Last June, Salazar brought her back to Interior, tapping her for the position of deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management.

He cited her "professionalism and detailed knowledge of Interior's land and energy responsibilities."

Asked about her hiring at a House hearing Wednesday, Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said that Baca has recused herself from the oil spill because of her prior employment with BP.

"She has not been involved in offshore energy issues," he added."



The same ol' revolving door corruption is happening with this administration.