Joe Barton has company

Some folks in high offices seem to have no idea about the ethical and moral implications behind conflicts of interest, or they don’t care. I would wager the latter.

The latest oil industry supporter masquerading as a public servant could be U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, a 1983 Ronad Reagan appointee, who on Tuesday, overturned an offshore drilling moratorium in the Gulf imposed by the Obama administration. The drilling ban would have guaranteed that no other rigs had the chance to fail or that no other oil-related incidents would have taken place until we: A) get the current leak completely contained and B) by whatever means necessary, ensure it never happens again.

Credit: AP

As it turns out, Feldman owns about $15,000 in Transocean Ltd. stock. Transocean, of course, is the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon (Unfortunately for him, the stock has dropped 27 points in the last year). Also, according to The Associated Press:

Feldman’s 2008 financial disclosure report – the most recent available – also showed investments in Ocean Energy, a Houston-based company, as well as Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Halliburton, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, Parker Drilling and others. Halliburton was also involved in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project.

Feldman wrote in his ruling:

If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all are? Are all airplanes a danger because one was? All oil tankers like Exxon Valdez? All trains? All mines? That sort of thinking seems heavy-handed, and rather overbearing.

No it’s not rational. Of course all rigs aren’t flawed. That’s not the assertion. The assertion is that oil companies are operating potentially volatile rigs without having adequate contingency plans in the event of an emergency. How catastrophic would it be in the unlikely, but theoretically possible, event that some other piece of equipment fails on some other rig, thereby sending more oil into the ocean? Worse, when signs of an impending problem do crop up, warning signs are apparently ignored and special permissions made to keep the oil flowing despite company policies to the contrary. After all, it’s their money to lose if they don’t.

Rep. Joe Barton, of course, would be the formerly mentioned public servant holding the above honorary title, who apologized to BP execs, and then pathetically apologized for his own apology. He is the top recipient of funds from oil and industry individuals and political action committees in the House.

As for the moratorium ruling, the administration plans to appeal:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that within days he would issue a new order imposing a moratorium on deep-water drilling that would contain additional information showing why it was necessary.