By Wildcat Perspectives Desk
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday Mar. 20, 2002
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Illustration by Josh Hagler
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The Bush Administration began the construction on a new national energy policy more than a year ago. In order to establish the framework for the policy, Vice President Dick Cheney established the National Energy Policy Development Group to pound out the energy proposal President Bush outlined last May.
In July 2001, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, told Cheney in a letter that it wanted "full and complete access to records relating to the development of the administration's national energy policy." The energy plan has been heavily criticized for its tilt toward fossil fuel industries, as well as a strong push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for oil drilling.
In response, Bush exercised executive privilege - the constitutional power that allows the executive branch to refuse to reveal confidential material if this would interfere with the administration's ability to govern - in order to avoid revealing energy policy details. Bush responded to the situation: "I have a duty to protect the executive branch from legislative encroachment."
On Feb. 21, 2002, a federal district court notified the Natural Resource Defense Council it had ordered the Department of Energy to divulge part of the energy task force's secret documents by March 25. The NRDC had filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act.
Does the executive branch reserve the right to consult with experts in secret? Or do the American people have the right to know what's going down at the White House?
From Presidency to Presidency
Did the Monica Lewinsky scandal (curse her for having a name so similar to mine) affect the country's national security or national economy? Not at all. Did Congress and society at large decide that everything that happened between her and the President was our business? We sure did, unfortunately.
So now that it appears that industry leaders may have formed the White House energy plan, Bush and Cheney would like to invoke executive privilege and keep those documents out of public record. Nice try, gentlemen. A precedent has been set. If something as trivial as Monica Lewinsky is congressional business, then the nation's energy policy is definitely a public affair.
Bush would like us to think that his standing up for executive privilege is his way of keeping the executive branch strong. That's very noble. But he campaigned on "openness" and "restoring dignity to the White House." Memory isn't so short that we forget his promises to keep all things shady out of our government.
Mr. President, face it like the leader you claim you are. On March 25, hand over the documents, and if necessary, make an apology before the nation starts clamoring for one.
Laura Winsky is a senior majoring in Spanish and political science. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu
No moral high ground for environmentalists
So the environmentalists are out for blood again. This time, the NRDC is trying to prove that the White House consorted with the energy industry in helping develop a national energy policy. Imagine that: trying to solve energy problems with those who provide most of America's energy.
Environmentalists are in no position to try and take the high road right now. Last week, the Washington Times reported that the Forest Service made up statistical information about the "endangered" spotted owl to keep lumber companies from cutting down trees in California.
"The revelation of bad science comes on the heels of other questionable actions taken by federal officials in the name of protecting endangered species," the Times reported. "False samples were submitted into a national lynx survey, and in other cases, faulty information was used to cut off water to farmers and to establish habitat in several states for endangered fish species."
In turn, the government has dished out $25 million in federal taxes to bail out companies for lost timber sales.
Cheney shouldn't be made to release these documents. Every residential administration, Republican and Democrat, has constructed energy policies alongside big business.
But if he does have to release them, at least they'll be accurate.
Shane Dale is a political science junior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
Not president of me
I've had enough. I'm fed up with Bush, his stupidity and unabashed elitism and his sky-high approval ratings. Is anyone out there even paying attention?
His perverse distortion of executive privilege is more like Nixon than anything I've lived to see, and yet, we are content to confine our debates to whether he and the vice president should have the right to "unvarnished advice." Just consider the implications of that question, parroted by Cheney every time a reporter dares doubt his motives. There is a very sinister message implicit in his words - that if taxpayers could hear, the corporations advising the President would have to change what they were saying.
"Unvarnished advice" is fast becoming for this administration what "national security" was for the Nixon administration: a way to make sure that the president and the bubble of power-wielding men around him aren't accountable to anyone, least of all those forced to shoulder the financial burden of their decisions.
I find it increasingly ironic that the man championed as "the people's president" daily demonstrates an utter disregard for the vast majority of people living in this country. And I've given up hope that he will ever step away from his elitist politics.
George Bush isn't the president of America. He's the CEO.
Caitlin Hall is a biochemistry and philosophy freshman. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
Not above the law
Vice President Dickie has come under attack for having private candle-lit rendezvous with top industry executives concerning the new energy policy. These executives just happen to include the same Enron execs whose company went bankrupt late last year and are now being charged with 47 class actions for abusing their power and committing massive fraud.
The question now arises whether or not the executive branch has the power to consult privately when it comes to national policy that includes giving $34 billion to polluting subsidies such as coal, gas, nuclear and oil industries. These coincidences and the doubts surrounding the legality of this taskforce have caused the Natural Resources Defense Council to take the issue to court.
If Dickie and Georgie want to be taken seriously, they must admit they are not above the law. The likelihood of a policy favoring certain industries and how the same industry execs are top contributors to Georgie's presidency campaign are too high for us to rest comfortably. Now it is up to the NRDC to clear up some confusion and tell us just how much of the policy is legal and how much is criminal.
Mariam Durrani is a systems engineering junior. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
A game of words
The Bush administration has not proven itself good at very much, but it certainly has done a good job of undermining our language. No, I'm not talking about mispronunciations in Bush's speeches - although that would make for an interesting topic - but how the administration has managed to convince the American people to support its plans by changing the meaning of words.
Bush has called his energy plan, which involves oil drilling in one of America's most pristine wilderness areas, "energy security." A more appropriate title would be "America served on a platter to the energy companies."
The administration has wasted no time changing our language in the case of the documents regarding Cheney's energy plan. It comes as no surprise to me that Cheney calls keeping hundreds of documents secret "executive privilege."
What's even more sickening than the administration's actions is that the public is falling for them! If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't hesitate before making these records public. The public has a right to know if Enron was writing the President's energy policy, and "executive privilege" should not apply here.
Contrary to what the White House would have one believe, more secrecy does not necessarily mean more security.
Kendrick Wilson is a political science freshman. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
Let the court decide
Political tactics fuel the GAO's current investigation. It is an election year and Democrats, like Republicans, are seeking every means of discrediting the opposition. The two Democratic representatives who wrote the GAO to encourage the investigation likely have less interest in environmental matters or administration propriety than in the possibility that this issue can make Cheney and his colleagues look scandalous in the eyes of voters. The GAO is suspiciously eager to assist house Democrats. After all, when former V.P. Gore refused the GAO certain e-mails regarding dubious campaign financing practices, the GAO did not respond with a lawsuit. But let's forget about what underlies this matter. The immediate question is: Does Cheney have the legal obligation to turn over the energy task force documents?
I don't know. The Freedom of Information laws do not mandate the disclosure of all information. It is possible that the files in question are outside the realm of public knowledge and within the secretive hold of "executive privilege," as Cheney insists - in which case he has every right to withhold them. But if the information should be public knowledge, which is unclear at this time, then the vice president is being unrightfully secretive.
We will know when the court decides.
Daniel Cucher is a creative writing senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
