Ferrari Mailing List: Re: NFC! The future of American oil exploration (or lack there of

[philville dejazzd.com (philville]

   Jim / little r,
   I have tried to read this several times, but where do you see the
   scandal ( specifics) so that I can find it ....I can't get past the
   first para. with out becoming totally confused.
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: jimshadow [at] verizon.net
   Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:54 pm
   Subject: Re: [Ferrari] NFC! The future of American oil exploration (or
   lack there of
   To: Phil Tegtmeier <philville [at] dejazzd.com>
   Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
   > Wow!      So how long before the
   > corruption scandals start to be exposed?   With this
   > MASSIVE wealth transfer, I cannot imagine that this will be free
   > of a dark side........
   > I have felt all day like this is all a bad dream and I'm trying
   > to wake up from it........
   >
   > Jim
   > Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
   >
   > -----Original Message-----
   > From: Rick Lindsay <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
   >
   > Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 14:30:17
   > To: JIM<jimshadow [at] verizon.net>
   > Cc: The FerrariList<ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
   > Subject: [Ferrari] NFC! The future of American oil exploration
   > (or lack there of
   >
   >
   > This letter just arrived on my business e-mail account. Enjoy!
   >
   > rick
   >
   > - - -
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   > Draft bill overhauls agency's leasing, royalties, ethics rules
   >
   > Publication: Environment and Energy Daily | Article Date:
   > 5/28/2009 | Author: Noelle Straub and Ben Geman
   > Draft legislation by the House Natural Resources Committee's
   > Democratic staff would forge a new Interior Department agency to
   > govern oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters while
   > raising onshore royalty rates and tightening ethics rules.
   > The far-reaching bill also includes measures to improve planning
   > for renewable energy development on public lands onshore and on
   > the federal outer continental shelf.
   > The legislation has been in circulation as another panel -- the
   > House Energy and Commerce Committee -- worked on a sweeping
   > energy and climate change bill. Energy and Commerce Committee
   > members approved that bill last week, and floor votes could take
   > place as soon as this summer.
   > Aides to Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and
   > House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not provide comment by
   > press time about whether the bills could be combined. But Rahall
   > last week said he was eyeing additions to the House climate and
   > energy bill.
   > Interior would see a major restructuring of its energy agencies
   > under the draft Natural Resources Committee staff bill. All
   > federal energy and mineral leasing programs would be
   > consolidated within one bureau in Interior that would handle
   > lease sales, inspection, enforcement and revenue collection.
   > Specifically, the energy portions of the Minerals Management
   > Service and the Bureau of Land Management -- including oil and
   > gas, wind, wave and solar programs -- would be combined into one
   > new agency called the "Office of Federal Energy and Minerals
   Leasing."
   > That agency would be responsible for all aspects of leasing both
   > onshore and offshore, including siting, development, regulation
   > and collection of royalties. The director of the office would
   > require Senate confirmation, unlike the head of MMS, which
   > currently is the only major bureau within Interior whose top
   > official does not require confirmation.
   > Employees currently working for BLM and other Interior agencies
   > would be transferred to the new agency. All employees of the new
   > office that conduct audits or compliance reviews would have to
   > meet professional auditor qualifications.
   > Other royalty-related changes include elimination of the royalty-
   > in-kind program, which allows industry to provide petroleum
   > directly to Interior in lieu of royalty payments. An Interior
   > inspector general report last year found that 19 employees,
   > nearly one-third of the entire staff of the royalty-in-kind
   > program, socialized with and received a wide array of gifts and
   > gratuities from oil and gas companies with which the agency was
   > conducting official business.
   > The bill also contains numerous ethics reforms aimed at
   > correcting a host of problems at Interior, including the MMS
   > scandal and numerous deficiencies outlined in a series of
   > scathing reports by government watchdog agencies on how
   > royalties are collected.
   > Employees of the new office would be prohibited from accepting a
   > gift from, owning stock in or being employed by any entity
   > engaged in "exploring for, developing, mining, transporting,
   > processing, or trading energy or minerals."
   > The bill also contains a "revolving door" provision prohibiting
   > employees from working for energy companies for one year after
   > leaving Interior. Employees also would be subjected to financial
   > disclosure requirements.
   > Violation of any of the ethics rules would be a felony.
   > The changes proposed by the legislation fall in line with those
   > promised by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He has repeatedly
   > promised to "clean up the mess" at Interior and to make
   > restoring the department's integrity his highest priority. He
   > also has been considering a reorganization of the agencies he
   > oversees, including a fundamental restructuring of its royalty
   > program."The place where we are most focused on looking at
   > potential reorganization has to do with MMS and BLM," he said at
   > a hearing earlier this month. An Interior spokesperson said the
   > department is reviewing the draft bill.
   > "Secretary Salazar has worked and will continue to work with
   > Chairman Rahall and Congress on reform initiatives that will
   > help change how the Department of the Interior does business,"
   > said Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff.
   > Other provisions in the bill would overhaul the system for
   > energy development planning on federal lands and waters.
   > Provisions include new outer continental shelf "Regional
   > Planning Councils" -- made up of federal and state officials,
   > industry, tribes and other stakeholders -- that would undertake
   > new strategic planning; joint BLM and Forest Service efforts to
   > work with states planning for both renewable and traditional
   > energy development; replacing the current administrative process
   > for onshore public lands wind and solar projects with a
   > commercial leasing program; and several other provisions.
   > The new office also would be required to prepare five-year
   > onshore leasing programs for 11 Western states and Alaska,
   > similar to the five-year plans currently required for offshore
   > leasing.Leasing, royalty changes
   > The bill also aims to pressure oil companies to develop leases
   > more quickly while raising several industry costs.
   > It would create new "diligent development" rules for onshore and
   > offshore leases while imposing new fees on nonproducing leases.
   > It also would shorten initial onshore lease terms from 10 years
   > to five and raise minimum royalty rates to 18.75 percent.
   > The bill also would repeal provisions in a major 2005 energy law
   > that expanded the offshore royalty waiver program called
   > "royalty relief."
   > And it would make a host of other changes aimed at improving
   > Interior's royalty collections processes, which have been
   > criticized in recent years by Interior's inspector general and
   > the Government Accountability Office.
   > Oil industry officials and their allies quickly attacked the
   measure.
   > Andy Radford, a senior policy adviser with the American
   > Petroleum Institute, said the bill would be harmful to domestic
   > production, especially when viewed alongside separate Obama
   > administration proposals to repeal several industry tax
   > incentives. "You are looking at a real disincentive to
   > investment and the development of resources," he said.
   > Added Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for the American Energy
   > Alliance, a group that pushes for easing limits on domestic oil
   > and gas drilling: "This latest proposal will only further
   > restrict access to our vast domestic resources and increase the
   > price of energy. Congress and the House Resources Committee
   > would be well served to focus their time and efforts on policy
   > that would increase domestic energy production, not further
   > restrict domestic supply as this measure proposes."
   > The Wilderness Society's Dave Alberswerth, however, praised some
   > provisions in the measure. "There are a number of fiscal
   > reforms, royalty management reforms that are very laudable in
   > that proposal," he said.
   > Alberswerth also lauded provisions aimed at pressuring companies
   > to develop their current leases. The group has long alleged that
   > Interior, under the Bush administration, was too aggressive in
   > seeking to open new areas to leasing.
   > But Alberswerth is wary of plans to create a new Office of
   > Federal Energy and Minerals Leasing within Interior, in light of
   > the group's concerns that the agency has in the past prioritized
   > energy development over other uses on public lands.
   > He said Interior does not need a "super leasing" office. "What
   > we need is more balance in the way the public lands are
   > managed," he said. The group has been discussing its concerns
   > with majority staff on the Natural Resources Committee, he added.
   > Athan Manuel of the Sierra Club called the proposal a "mixed
   > bag." He praised provisions aimed at helping develop offshore
   > renewable energy. But he lamented the absence of new limits on
   > offshore oil and gas leasing following the expiration of decades-
   > old moratoria last year. "The bottom line for us is we don't
   > want to see any new offshore drilling happen, and I am not sure
   > this bill gets us there," he said.
   > _________________________________________________________________
   > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit:
   >
   http://lists.ferrarilist.com/mailman/options/ferrari/jimshadow%40veriz
   on.net
   >
   > Sponsored by BooyahMedia.com
   > and F1 Headlines
   > http://www.F1Headlines.com/
   > _________________________________________________________________
   > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit:
   >
   http://lists.ferrarilist.com/mailman/options/ferrari/philville%40dejaz
   zd.com
   >
   > Sponsored by BooyahMedia.com
   > and F1 Headlines
   > http://www.F1Headlines.com/
   Philip "Phil" Tegtmeier
   39 Churchill Drive, Elverson Pa 19520
   610.525.8949
   Save these dates:
   September 12th & 13th  100 Motorcars of Radnor Hunt
   fantastic 2 day event ......www.radnorconcours.org ........
   _________________________________________
   September  the 27th Garden State Ferrari Fall Festival
   __________________________________________
   And of course, go to: ................www.PhilvilleUSA.com