Endnotes
Endnotes:
[i] A Clinton administration political appointee, Quarterman had been with the Washington, DC law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP in the Regulatory & Industry Affairs Department before her selection, and she returned there when she resigned from MMS in 1999. Quarterman has an industrial engineering degree from Northwestern and worked for IBM before attending Columbia University law school. She was a member of Barack Obama’s transition team in the Energy Department, and in August 2009 Obama announced he was naming Quarterman administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the Department of Transportation.
[ii] Calvert has had a somewhat controversial career, starting in 1993 when police caught him sitting in his car with his pants unzipped and a heroin-addicted prostitute’s head in his lap. He was not charged with anything. His later earmarking practices, land deals, and relationships with disgraced politicians have often put his name in the news. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named him one of Congress’ 20 Most Corrupt Lawmakers of 2006.
[iii] MMS reported that analysis of the revenue impact showed that in-kind royalties were about $.0974/MMBtu less than in-value royalties. Extrapolated to all Gulf of Mexico federal leases, the loss would have been some $82 million annually.
[iv] Testimony before House Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources: Andrew N. Hoyle, vice-president-marketing, Enron Oil and Gas Co., June 27, 1996.
[v] Which sounds like a description of Wyoming.
[vi] He had been a Democrat, but switched parties in the ‘90s. Bebout, who failed in his 2002 run for governor after Geringer was timed out of office, is now a Republican state senator from Riverton.
[vii] Refreshing candor. Cubin knew whom she represented. In 1999, celebrating rising oil prices, she said, “This recent rise has certainly been welcome, but my constituents in this business are still hurting.”
[viii] No matter her other activities, Barbara Cubin will always be remembered for giving penis-shaped cookies to male colleagues in the Wyoming legislature. She also photographed their trousered crotches and posted the pictures. In 2000, she told a Republican leadership meeting, “We are bending over and taking it from the Democrats,” and when a colleague objected to the coarse talk she said, “Quiet down, or you’ll get a spanking.” Who can forget her comparing welfare recipients to pen-raised wolves? Or her asking if an amendment banning gun sales to drug addicts meant you could not sell guns “to any black person”? And what about this peculiar 2001 introduction of Gov. Jim Geringer to the House Resources Committee: “Governor Geringer represents the least-populated State in the country, but he also represents the only State in the country that has three Senators—they are all men, the Governor is a man—and one Congressman, a woman, but it really only takes one woman to do the work of those three guys.”
[ix] After working 38 years with his father and two brothers (his sister withdrew from the business in 1984), True with his sons Kip and Kyle in 2006 founded Diamond Oil LLC, also based in Casper. Diemer True is chairman of the new oil company, as well as his Diamond Land and Livestock and Facet Investments, also formed in 2006.
[x] At their Poplar Street home in Casper, the Trues hosted a $1,200-a-plate ($1,500 if you wanted your picture taken with the Veep) Republican Party fundraiser with Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2000, Diemer True’s campaign contributions totaled $15,500, according to Campaignmoney.com; in 2002, $28,582; in 2004, $34,568; in 2006, $18,065; and most recently in 2008, $68,135. Much of the money went to Wyoming congressional candidates—Barbara Cubin, for example, got $8,800 in 1997-98.
[xi] The award was presented at the IPAA convention in Houston. True’s father, H.A. “Dave” True, was named Chief Roughneck in 1965. The only other father-son Roughneck winners are the Texans H.L. Hunt (1966) and his son Ray (2005).
[xii] But not all: Wyoming in the Geringer and Burton era wanted RIK. The GAO said that MMS received information from several states about their experiences in valuation disputes with oil companies leasing state land. For example, Alaska reported settling a lawsuit filed against three major oil companies for about $1 billion. Texas got a major oil company to pay $17.5 million to settle allegations that between 1986 and 1995 it had paid royalties on prices that were less than market value. Louisiana reported it settled 10 disputes from 1987 through 1998; these companies agreed to collectively pay about $6 million. New Mexico reported two settlements with a major oil company, totaling about $2 million, for state royalties from 1985 through 1995. No State of Wyoming dispute was mentioned, although at this time Wyoming counties were aggressively pursuing oil companies for ad valorem tax underpayments. See Feds Gone Wild, Part I.
[xiii] According to Washington Post reporter Bart Gellman’s book, Angler
[xiv] A total of 474 people were named to various advisory teams, but not all had direct contact with the departments they were advising. The “vast majority” of the Bush team were lobbyists, corporate executives, trade association leaders and others with a pro-business agenda, according to the Washington Post.
[xv] Gribbin was U.S. Rep. Cheney’s administrative assistant from 1979 to 1986, then was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs from 1989-1992, when Cheney headed the department for George H.W. Bush. Gribbin joined Halliburton’s board in 1996; Cheney had become Halliburton CEO in 1995.
[xvi] And a highly competitive USTA 60s tennis player. Sansonetti’s image appears on an endorsement of the Avery M3 racquet, along with a long quote beginning, “Any player out there who has been desiring more depth, but has been frustrated by seeing their whipped ground strokes regularly failing short into their opponent’s court, should give the Avery M3 Control racquets a try.”
[xvii] He was a candidate to fill the remainder of Craig Thomas’ term when the senator died in 2007. Sansonetti got the most votes from the GOP central committee and advanced to the finals along with Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso. Gov. Dave Freudenthal had the final call and chose Barrasso.
[xviii] Sansonetti was appointed Associate Solicitor for Energy and Resources by Reagan administration Interior Secretary Don Hodel, a Federalist Society member who upon leaving office became president of the Christian Coalition.
[xix] Sansonetti only took up his own appointment, as Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division, on November 30, 2001. In his new post, he was responsible for enforcing the nation’s environmental and natural resources laws.
[xx] Griles’ career (2001-04) ended badly. The former mining lobbyist, said to be Jack Abramoff’s “man inside Interior,” pleaded guilty in March 2007 to lying to the Senate.
[xxi] Denett’s career ended badly. The Inspector General reported to Congress on October 30, 2008 that she “conspired” with Jimmy Mayberry, her former personal assistant, to have contracts awarded to him after he retired from MMS in 2003. Mayberry pleaded guilty to a felony; Denett retired. The Bush administration’s Justice Department declined to prosecute her.
[xxii] Dillon later took a job at Shell and in 2008 was a member of the Minerals Management Service Outer Continental Shelf Advisory Committee.