Johnnie Burton emerges:

She was the Mineral and Management Services Director for GW from 2000-2007 and she doesn’t seem to understand what all the hub-bub is about over at the MMS these days. “When I was there, it seemed to work so well,” she says.

True, when you give the oil companies whatever they want, and deplete the means of your own agency to enforce what rules you have left, of course things “seem” to go well. I could go to Wall Street today as the new head of the SEC and fire 70% of my staff while directing the 30% remaining to stop doing audits. I could give the banks and the major trading companies whatever they liked while they treated me to dinner, flew me around the world, and as they assured me how wonderful things were progressing, in kind, I would be able to report the same, speak to just how well the system functions for the benefit of all our citizens…until something happened like, oh, I don’t know, maybe a housing crash, a recession or possibly a meltdown of global proportion.

Under Johnnie Burton’s tenure, the MMS offered more incentive to drillers in the Gulf, attempted to open the market in ANWAR, trimmed spending on enforcement, cut back on auditors and sped up approvals for drilling applications. Burton cut back on the frequency of audits, fired auditors who challenged the oil companies and worked hard to expand offshore drilling, while working even harder to turn a blind eye to any safety issues.

What me, worry?

So, to all those people affected by the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico British Petroleum Oil Spill Catastraphuk, meet the woman who set the stage, to help make this all possible…eighty days and going strong. I guess we’ll just add her to the list of past Bush officials that Obama’s Justice Department won’t go after…she’ll be in good company, most of her friends are there.

Read this outstanding and comprehensive article by Brad Johnson:

Bush MMS Director Defends Tenure

Have a nice day.