Corporations shaped Bush energy policy, GAO says
August 25, 2003: An investigation by the General Accounting Office has confirmed what environmental groups have long contended: corporations played a significant role in formulating the Bush administration's energy policy. But the full extent of corporate influence is unknown because the White House still refuses to release key records related to the secretive energy policy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. According to the GAO's report, industry lobbyists from oil and gas, electricity, nuclear, coal and chemical companies gave detailed recommendations to the administration's task force while environmentalists and other experts were largely shut out of the process.
"We don't hate to say we told you so," said NRDC senior attorney Sharon Buccino, "we just hate that the Bush energy plan was crafted by and for polluting energy companies."
NRDC won a lawsuit against the Energy Department that forced the disclosure of thousands of previously unreleased documents, many of which revealed the dealings between policymakers and industry. Another lawsuit against the White House is still pending in federal court. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch are pressing forward with a separate suit that would force the administration to reveal details of its secret meetings with industry officials. The GAO also filed its own suit to obtain information from the White House about the task force's dealings, but the suit was dismissed in federal court and the agency didn't appeal.
© 2009 Natural Resources Defense Council
