Statement on General Accounting Office (GAO) Investigation of Cheney Energy Group

Statement of Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen

(09/07/2001) - Today’s statement by the Government Accounting Office reinforces what we have suspected for months – that the White House’s energy plan is at its heart the product of a backroom deal between the Bush administration and their pals in the oil and gas industries. It has long been strongly rumored that major parts of the Bush energy plan were written by industry and given to the Vice President’s energy task force in White House meetings last Spring.

The White House has acknowledged that the meetings took place but insists upon keeping secret whom they met with and what they discussed.

The White House is claiming that it’s none of the public’s business how it came up with this plan. To the contrary. The only ones to whom such a revelation would likely be damaging is the President and Vice President. They weren’t so tight-lipped after they allowed a handful of environmental leaders to give their views after the Vice President’s energy policy report was completed and the day before it was made public. Instead they ran quickly to the media to tell all, in what in retrospect was a transparent attempt to fool the public into thinking that the White House was seriously listening to the environmental community’s views.

Clearly the public interest can now best be served by the White House revealing everything related to their secret meetings with oil industry representatives. We call upon the White House to lift the veil of secrecy and publically announce when the meetings took place, who attended, and what industry recommended. The public can then compare the recommendations with the President’s energy proposals and judge for itself the extent to which those proposals simply reflect requests from the President’s and Vice President’s industry pals. If the White House continues to deny the public’s interest in this information and to insist that the information remain secret, we call upon the Government Accounting Office to protect the public’s right to know by filing suit to force the White House to reveal all.

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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading non-profit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 470,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.

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Contact(s):

Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270