|
BUSH'S
OIL MACHINE
BY
CATHERINE BALDI AND DANNY KENNEDY
__________________
George W. Bush has ushered the oil industry
into the heart of Washington. As the Oil & Gas Journal
said: "From industry’s perspective, the casting of the lead
roles couldn’t be better." Here are some of the key players.
George Bush, President
The president’s best business move was to sell a small oil company
he had started in the 1970s, Bush Exploration/Arbusto, to Spectrum 7.
In return he received $600,000 in stock, a $120,000 yearly contract and
a lot of friends in the Texas oil scene. Oil and other energy money gushed
into George II’s 2000 campaign coffers to the tune of $2.8 million.
Another $2.3 million came from the auto sector. Enron donated more than
a million dollars to the Republican National Committee.
Dick Cheney, Vice President
After serving as defense secretary under Bush I, Cheney settled in Dallas
to head up the world’s largest oil service company, Halliburton.
Halliburton has 100,000 employees in 130 countries, and a market value
of $18.2 billion. Since 1992 the company has contributed $1.6 billion
to Washington politicians. Halliburton now has contracts with the U.S.
army to build and staff pre-fabricated bases, a program championed by
Cheney when he was secretary of defense.
Zalmay Khalilzad, Special Envoy to Afghanistan
The highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan, Khalilzad has a long
history of promoting military action as a member of the Reagan and Bush
I administrations. He was a consultant for oil giant Unocal in 1997, conducting
risk assessments for their proposed 900-mile Afghan pipeline to transport
natural gas. In advocating the Unocal pipeline while the Taliban still
ruled Afghanistan, Khalilzad wrote in the Washington Post that "the
Taliban do not practice the anti-U.S. style of fundamentalism practiced
by Iran. We should be willing to offer recognition and humanitarian assistance."
Don Evans, Commerce Secretary
Evans was Bush II’s campaign manager and chief fundraiser in the
last three elections, pulling in millions from cronies in the oil patch.
Before that he was CEO and chairman of the Colorado-based oil company,
Tom Brown Inc. and a board member of Sharp Drilling, an oil industry contractor.
As commerce secretary, Evans oversees policy for U.S. oceans and air.
Since 25 percent of domestic oil and natural gas production comes from
offshore drilling, the industry must be glad to have a friend on the inside.
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser
Rice spent a decade on the board of Chevron Corporation (now ChevronTexaco).
She was Chevron’s main expert on Kazakhstan, where the company has
invested $20 billion. ChevronTexaco is also a big player in Nigeria. Rice
is involved in U.S. policy toward that country. When Rice left the Chevron
board, the company honored her by naming one of its supertankers "Condoleezza."
__________________________________
The authors work with Project Underground in Berkeley, Calif. (www.moles.org
(www.moles.org).
|
