On May 18, 2001, the White House issued an Executive Order:
“Sec. 3. Interagency Task Force. There is established an interagency task force (Task Force) to monitor and assist the agencies in their efforts to expedite their review of permits or similar actions, as necessary, to accelerate the completion of energy-related projects, increase energy production and conservation, and improve transmission of energy. The Task Force also shall monitor and assist agencies in setting up appropriate mechanisms to coordinate Federal, State, tribal, and local permitting in geographic areas where increased permitting activity is expected. The Task Force shall be composed of representatives from the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Commerce, Transportation, the Interior, Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, General Services Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Council of Economic Advisers, Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, and such other representatives as may be determined by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and housed at the Department of Energy for administrative purposes.”
The purpose of this task force was to coordinate actions among government agencies at all levels to increase efficiency, to accelerate project completion, and to expedite government action. All laudable goals, to be sure.
The bad news is that this coordination was implemented with regard to energy permitting. Coordination was noticeably not implemented, as we know, with regard to the twenty-plus federal agencies pertinent to intelligence gathering and analysis, nor was their interaction with state and local law enforcement facilitated.
Domestic security was simply not a top priority for the administration, and the oil companies were a priority, a point reinforced by the other sections of the Order:
“Sec. 2. Actions to Expedite Energy-Related Projects. For energy-related projects, agencies shall expedite their review of permits or take other actions as necessary to accelerate the completion of such projects, while maintaining safety, public health, and environmental protections. The agencies shall take such actions to the extent permitted by law and regulation, and where appropriate.”
What this Order demonstrates, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that the White House was aware of efficiency issues in federal agencies; it was aware that some issues could be addressed by coordinating related actions among federal entities; and it was aware that federal actions could be coordinated to some extent with state and local government actions.
“Section 1. Policy. The increased production and transmission of energy in a safe and environmentally sound manner is essential to the well-being of the American people. In general, it is the policy of this Administration that executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall take appropriate actions, to the extent consistent with applicable law, to expedite projects that will increase the production, transmission, or conservation of energy.”
The main point here, aside from the destructiveness unleashed by encouraging oil and mining companies to expand into larger terrain including federal preserves and Indian reservations, is that this lucidly stated policy on energy was precisely the opposite of administration policy on domestic security.
At about the time of this Executive Order, along with expediting permitting for oil companies, the administration was also expediting entry of Saudis into the
Any Democratic candidate for office who supported Bush’s energy policy should be asked why he did so.
Stumble It!