http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/10/national/main4436263.shtml
This was your sign
And it WAS ignored!
The allegations of bad behavior involve 13 government employees in Denver and Washington, reports CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. Those accused are workers who sell U.S. mineral rights to oil companies. Such sales are one of the government's biggest sources of revenue besides taxes.
The findings are the latest sign of trouble at the Minerals Management Service, which has already been accused of mismanaging the collection of fees from oil companies and writing faulty contracts for drilling on government land and offshore. The charges also come as lawmakers and both presidential candidates weigh giving oil companies more access to federal lands, which would bring in more money to the federal government.
"The government employees who oversee off-shore oil drilling are literally and figuratively in bed with big oil," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
"This all shows the oil industry holds shocking sway over the administration and even key federal employees," Nelson added. "This is why we must not allow big oil's agenda to be jammed through Congress."
While most government royalties for drilling on federal lands are paid in cash, the government in recent years has been receiving a greater share of its oil and gas royalties in actual product. More of that oil is also being sold on the open market, versus being deposited in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation's emergency oil stockpile. Congress earlier this year passed a law halting deposits of oil to the reserve to alleviate high gasoline prices.
