Interior Secretary Refusing to Drill for Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC - American Solutions for Winning the Future wants to know what the Department of Interior is hiding and why they are hiding it.  The citizen-backed policy group is continuing to pursue its Freedom of Information Act request because the Secretary of Interior is refusing to move forward with a plan to open energy exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf despite strong support from the American people.   

"One hundred and twenty-five days and still no tabulation," said Vince Haley, VP of Policy at American Solutions who filed the FOIA inquiry.  "Meanwhile, the American economy isn't improving and Americans continue to be out of work.  Politics is keeping over 800,000 jobs a year from being created in 24 states.  Secretary Salazar has used every excuse available, including blaming the weather, to explain why his department has not completed the plan.  Secretary Salazar should finalize the plan or the President should appoint people who will do the job of creating jobs."

After overcoming several bureaucratic hurdles, American Solutions' initial FOIA requests revealed MMS Director Liz Birnbaum has intentionally kept information about the public's support from the Interior Secretary to allow him the ability to deny knowledge of the public's 2 to 1 support for off-shore drilling.  The Department promised to release a second parcel of documents to American Solutions but has yet to meet its obligation.  In a letter sent to American Solutions on February 25, 2010, the Department of Interior admitted its failure to meet its own deadline but noted documents would be sent, "as soon as possible."   In addition to the missing-second parcel, American Solutions is seeking the "preliminary tabulation of comments" Birnbaum refers to in the email below, where she also reveals that she was withholding information from the Interior Secretary. 

"Although we do have a preliminary tabulation of the comments, it has not yet gone to the Secretary because Steve wanted to suggest some revisions in the presentation and analysis. (Steve, if you could get those comments to me, we'll get it completed.) So the Secretary can honestly say in response to any questions that he's has not yet seen the analysis of the comments - staff is still working on it. I did, however, confirm to him the 2-1 split that these guys are emphasizing."

Recent News Coverage of Drillgate: 

Investors Business Daily: Hopes that America would soon develop vast untapped energy reserves were dashed when the incoming Obama administration ordered all federal agencies and departments to halt all such pending regulations until they could be reviewed by incoming staff. (Source: Investors Business Daily, February 8, 2010)

Wall Street Journal: The email from [the] director of the Minerals Management Service...suggests how Interior Secretary Ken Salazar could avoid publicly acknowledging the support for the plan.  (Source: Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire, February 4, 2010)

NRO Online:  [Department of Interior]...went to great lengths to suppress those comments when they showed a support for offshore drilling at-odds with the administration's preferences. (Source: NRO Online, Drill Somewhere, Drill At Some Point, February 8, 2010.)

American Solutions for Winning the Future is supported by over 1.5 million people who have signed the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition. 

• A December 2009 Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% of U.S. voters believe offshore oil drilling should be allowed. (Source: "68% Favor Offshore Oil Drilling," Rasmussen Reports, December 16, 2009).
  
• President Bush rescinded an executive order banning offshore energy development in 2008.  (Source: "Bush Rescinds Father's Offshore Oil Ban," Washington Post, July 15, 2008).
  
• Candidate Barack Obama pledged support for offshore energy exploration in August 2008.(Source: "Obama Opens the Door to Offshore Drilling," Washington Post, August 2, 2008).
  
• Congress let the legislative ban on offshore energy exploration expire in 2008.
  (Source: "Lawmakers to Let Offshore‐Drilling Ban Expire," Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2008).
  
• Domestic energy exploration can generate over 800,000 jobs per year for the next 30 years. (Source: "The Economic Contribution of Increased Offshore Oil Exploration and Production to Regional and National Economies," American Energy Alliance, February 2009).
  
• According to University of Michigan Professor Mark Perry, for every one penny decrease in gas prices, consumers save between $1.42 billion and $1.71 billion annually.  (Source: Carpe Diem Blog: http://mjerry.blogspot.com/2008/10/falling-gas-prices-save-consumers-188.html. Accessed on February 12, 2010).

• During the State of the Union, President Obama emphasized the need for "more production, more efficiency, more incentives" to create clean energy jobs, including "making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development."  (Source: President Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address, January 27, 2010.)

The Department of Interior has 20 days to comply with the Freedom of Information Act request before they unveil their next bureaucratic hurdle to further delay the creation of 800,000 jobs a year in 24 states.