Missing Energy Papers of the U.S.A.
http://www.latimes.com/
THE NATION
Industry's a Key Player in Energy Data
Politics: Bush team, faced with a deadline, releases documents on task
force. Many passages are edited out, fanning controversy.
By RICHARD SIMON and EDMUND SANDERS and ELIZABETH SHOGREN TIMES STAFF WRITERS
March 26 2002
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration Monday released thousands of documents
on its energy task force, showing that industry groups provided substantial
input in drafting the president's energy plan.
In putting out 11,000 pages of documents before a midnight deadline, the
Energy Department gave new ammunition to critics of the administration's
energy policy, who say it is tilted in favor of the coal, gas, oil and
nuclear industries.
The documents show that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham met with more than
30 industry representatives at eight sessions from Feb. 14 to April 26. The
Nuclear Energy Institute, the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America and the
American Coal Co. were among the business groups invited to those sessions.
No representatives of environmental or consumer groups were listed as
meeting with Abraham.
In a statement, Abraham said the documents show that the energy plan was
"balanced" and that the Energy Department "not only sought but included all
viewpoints." Department officials said they sought input from
environmentalists but were often rebuffed. Environmental groups have said
their calls to administration officials weren't returned.
The department said that Abraham had declined a number of requests from
business executives for meetings.
The documents did little to quell a legal and political controversy over the
dealings of the energy task force, established by President Bush only days
after he took office. Bush, a former oilman, named Vice President Dick
Cheney, who had led an energy services company, to head the task force.
The administration's refusal to provide details of the task force's meetings
led the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to
file its first-ever lawsuit Feb. 22 against the executive branch. That
lawsuit has not been resolved.
Separately, the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental
organization, and Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group,
successfully brought court cases forcing the Energy Department and other
federal agencies that participated in the task force to make their records
available.
Those two organizations had sought documents last spring under the Freedom
of Information Act and sued when it appeared that the government was
dragging its feet on those requests. The two judges in these lawsuits set
Monday as the deadline to begin releasing the documents.
Energy Dept. Withholds Thousands of Pages
In addition to the Energy Department documents, about 5,000 pages of
documents were released Monday by the Department of Agriculture, the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget.
The Energy Department withheld 15,000 pages of documents. Of the 11,000
provided, many were heavily redacted. The omissions fanned the controversy
over the task force's secret meetings and contacts with industry groups,
many of which were sources of sizable donations to the Bush-Cheney campaign.
Abel Lopez, director of an Energy Department office that deals with requests
for records, said the deletions were permitted under the Freedom of
Information Act, which "protects advice, recommendations and opinions" that
are part of the executive branch's decision-making process.
Such redaction is not uncommon. Under the Freedom of Information Act,
government agencies may refuse to release information for a variety of
reasons, including protecting an individual's privacy or shielding policy
debates.
But Judicial Watch officials accused the administration of holding back key
records and vowed to return to court. "They're withholding information that
the public has a right to obtain," said Larry Klayman, chairman and general
counsel of the conservative watchdog group.
The documents were provided to a variety of environmental groups and media
organizations, including The Times, which had requested the information
under the Freedom of Information Act.
The documents show that the California energy crisis last year was a
much-discussed topic at the Energy Department, with e-mails on the state's
troubles often flagged as high priority. But in most cases, the content of
the e-mails was edited out.
"Virtually all the e-mails we have seen have been completely blanked out,"
said John Walke, director of clean air programs for the Natural Resources
Defense Council. "There are huge blank passages associated with the e-mails.
Some of the sentences are cut off in the middle and redacted out in the
bizarre way."
Walke was particularly interested in learning about plans for the new source
review provision of the Clean Air Act, which requires plants to install
state-of-the-art pollution control devices when they renovate their plants
in a way that increases pollution.
But while the phrase "New Source Review" or its abbreviation may appear in
the subject or below an attachment icon, there is no text.
"It gives you nothing," Walke said. "The substance is purposefully stricken
from the document."
Give-and-Take Revealed in E-Mails
Among the documents released were e-mails between energy officials, detailed
schedules for the secretary's chief of staff and other key officials,
e-mails from citizens praising the plan or suggesting various technologies
that would help solve the country's energy woes.
Some of the e-mails from industry lobbyists and representatives to key
members of the administration's energy task force suggested that there was
significant give-and-take in the development of the plan.
For instance, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Assn. and the Nuclear
Energy Institute supplied recommended paragraphs to drop into specific
sections of the plan.
The release also included many documents already public, such as energy
proposals from think tanks, environmental groups and industry associations;
administration officials' testimony to Congress; letters to the agency from
members of Congress; and news reports on energy troubles from newspapers,
wire services and broadcast outlets.
The EPA documents included appeals by the oil industry for reducing the
number of gasoline formulas used across the country and by the auto industry
for reevaluating the government's fuel-economy standards. The
administration's plan called for studying both issues.
Democratic lawmakers contend that the energy industry, including
scandal-plagued Enron Corp., heavily influenced shaping of a
production-tilted energy policy that favors the oil, gas, coal and nuclear
industries. Indeed, the administration has acknowledged that Enron officials
met six times with task force officials, including once with Cheney himself.
The Republican-controlled House last summer approved an energy plan that
included a number of the administration's initiatives, including opening up
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. The
Democratic-controlled Senate has been bogged down in a debate on a far
different energy bill that would stress conservation over production.
The GAO is continuing to wage its legal battle to secure additional
information, including White House records. Administration officials have
said they may claim executive privilege--a doctrine that presidents from
George Washington onward have used to withhold information from Congress or
the judiciary--to maintain the confidentiality of Cheney's records.
They also contend that releasing the information would set a bad precedent
for future administrations seeking candid advice from outside experts.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday that the release of the
documents did not alter the White House's opposition to making public the
details of Cheney's meetings.
"The constitutional principle that the president and the vice president have
enunciated remains in place," Fleischer said, "and the president will
continue to fight for that."
*
Times researcher Robert Patrick contributed to this report.
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*****
Judicial Watch Decries Missing Bush Energy Documents By Kathy A. Gambrell
UPI White House Reporter
3-27-2
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch said
Tuesday that more than 25,000 documents were missing from the thousands
released by the Bush administration under a Freedom of Information Act
request seeking information on deliberations between Vice President Dick
Cheney's energy task force and industry executives.
Larry Klayman, attorney for Judicial Watch, told reporters during an news
conference the organization would return to court on May 2 and ask a judge
to give them the ability to question Bush administration officials about
what information was missing from the 11,000 pages of documents it did
release and to seek the disclosure of additional documents from the White
House.
Papers released under the court order were from the Department of Energy,
White House Office of Budget and Management, Department of Agriculture, and
the Environmental Protection Agency.
Judicial Watch said about 15,000 documents from the Energy Department were
missing and another 10,000 from the EPA were also missing. They said they
have received none of the requested documents from the Department of
Treasury or the Department of Commerce.
White House officials called the May 2 hearing a "follow-up" hearing and
said they were unaware that Judicial Watch planned to seek additional
documents.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the released information would only
further confirm that the energy plan was a balanced plan and included all
viewpoints.
"It assures the American people that it was an open and appropriate process.
Most importantly, the National Energy Policy provides a much- needed plan
for energy security for America," Abraham said.
The agency said it sought advice from energy, environmental and related
organizations and leading experts to incorporate policy recommendations, but
that in some instances, some interested stakeholders did not come forward
with recommendations.
To ensure a wide diversity of views was considered, the department solicited
input and sought the advice from energy, environmental and related
organizations and leading experts to incorporate policy recommendations. In
some instances, DOE reached out and solicited the views of interested
stakeholders that did not come forth with recommendations, Abraham said.
Democrats have alleged that energy companies such as the now-bankrupt Enron
Corp. unduly influenced the task force while ignoring environmental groups.
Judicial Watch said it appeared that Enron sought favors from both the
Clinton and Bush administrations. It suspected that the missing documents
were related to the nearly defunct energy trading company.
President George W. Bush had objected to the disclosure of communications
between the White House and outside experts, considering it an issue
involving the separation of powers between the legislative and executive
branches of government. Bush said he could not get honest feedback on issues
if experts believed their discussions would be made public.
Klayman called the document release important, but said it was only one half
of the story. "The public deserves full accountability from the vice
president and his energy task force, and Judicial Watch will continue to
pursue that accounting through its other litigation under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act."
Klayman said the missing pages made the administration appear suspicious and
that "Until they release all the documents, the inference is that they have
something to hide."
On Feb. 27, a federal judge ordered the Department of Energy to hand over
thousands of documents related to meetings between energy industry officials
and Cheney's task force. District Judge Gladys Kessler in a memo
accompanying her order called the department "woefully tardy" in complying
with the Freedom of Information Act request by the Natural Resources Defense
Council to examine the documents.
"It's an absolute stonewall. There is nothing in the e-mail [copies] because
they've all been redacted. I haven't seen redaction of this nature even in
the Clinton administration," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch,
of the papers released Monday.
Among the documents were appointment book entries from Joseph Kelliher, a
member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Between April 2001 and
May 2001, his schedule showed meetings with the National Mining Association,
Western Independent Refiners Association, the Natural Petroleum Council and
the National Domestic Petroleum Council, among others.
"The train has left the station and I think the destination is full
disclosure," said Fitton.
By Tuesday afternoon the NRDC said it had reviewed only half of the papers
and was expected to make a statement on its examination during a Wednesday
press conference.
Cheney's task force met with Enron Corp., which last fall collapsed and fell
into bankruptcy. Kenneth Lay, then chairman of Enron and now under public
scrutiny, was the only executive to have a private meeting with Cheney,
according to material the vice president has released over the past year.
Klayman said the relationship between Bush and Lay was so close that the
president often referred to Lay as "Kenny boy." At the time Enron officials
were meeting with the Cheney task force, they were lobbying hard to keep the
federal government from placing a cap on energy prices in California.
Gov. Gray Davis, D-Calif., and several Democratic members of Congress have
accused Enron of manipulating energy prices that contributed to California's
energy crisis last spring.
After one meeting with an Enron official, Cheney announced that he would
oppose caps. Several Democrats accused Cheney of succumbing to Enron's
influence at an April meeting. But the vice president's office said Cheney
and Bush had consistently opposed price caps and his position last spring
was not influenced by Enron.
The vice president refused to issue a detailed list of participants in oil
industry meetings and what policy positions they pushed for in Bush's energy
plan. Cheney denied anything improper took place at meetings. He has said
that he and his aides were seeking policy suggestions from across the country.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International. All rights reserved.
*****
Bush Tapped Solar Energy Funds to Print Energy Plan Fri Mar 29, 9:33 AM ET
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While environmentalists have slammed the White House
national energy plan for not doing enough to promote renewable energy, the
Bush administration found those government research programs useful in
paying the bill for printing copies of the 170- page plan.
The administration took money from the Energy Department's solar and
renewable energy and energy conservation budgets to pay for the cost of
printing its national energy plan.
Documents released under court order by the Energy Department this week
revealed that $135,615 was spent from the DOE's solar, renewables and energy
conservation budget to produce 10,000 copies of the White House energy plan
released last May.
Another $1,317.39 was spent for producing 16 "briefing boards" used by
administration officials to illustrate and explain the White House energy
plan.
The newly released documents also show that $176.40 was taken from the
energy conservation program to pay for an Alaska trip by Andrew Lundquist,
the White House energy task force's staff director, to promote the energy
plan.
The administration's energy policy called for drilling in Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (news - web sites), a proposal strongly opposed by
environmentalists.
At the same time the White House tapped the renewable budget for funds to
print the energy plan, administration was urging Congress to cut the
renewable and energy efficiency research budgets by more than 50 percent.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), who headed the White House
energy task force, criticized environmentalists for relying too much on
renewables and conservation to solve the nation's energy problems.
"Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient
basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy," Cheney said two weeks
before the energy plan was released last May.
The administration did try to spread around the cost of producing the energy
plan.
It dipped into the DOE's fossil energy program, which covers primarily oil
research, to pay $100.92 for a hotel room near the Government Printing
Office where the policy publication was being produced.
The documents did not name the official or if the hotel offered a government
rate.
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