Obama Appoints New Oil Industry Watchdog in Oval Office Speech

Posted by mrubin in green living.

President Obama’s first Oval Office speech focused around the epidemic that is the Gulf Coast oil spill. Among his promises that BP would “pay for damages their company has cost,” he also appointed ex-prosecutor for the FBI Michael Bromwich as director of the Minerals Management Service.

The Minerals Management Service is an agency whose job it is to regulate offshore drilling and promote green living. During the past few months the agency has been under constant scrutiny including two inspector general’s reports in the past two years. The former director, Elizabeth Birnbaum, resigned from the position about a month ago due to the large amount of pressure she was receiving from the public and Obama’s administration.

The president’s disapproval of the way the MMS has been run has come out forcefully in public statements and in his speech last night. Obama has become outraged at the despicable practices the MMS has been found guilty of under previous management.”Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility,” Obama said in his speech on Tuesday, adding that “the pace of reform was just too slow.”

Obama wants Bromwich to become a watchdog of the oil industry- not its partner. There were reports documenting how MMS officials accepted gifts from oil rig officials and even engaged in illegal drug use and sexual relations with the individuals they regulate.

Bromwich has a knack for identifying problem areas in an agency in addition to finding possible solutions for them, said a previous boss, Carl Danburg, commissioner of the Delaware Department of Corrections. Bromwich’s resume has some impressive watchdog positions:

Analyzing Delaware’s prison conditions and providing solutions to solving problems with the inmates medical care
Inspector general for the Justice Department as DC’s independent monitor of excessive force of the police department
Independent investigator for the Houston Police Department’s Crime Lab
Associate counsel in the Iran-contra investigation in the late 1980s
Prosecutor policing the FBI

Hopefully, with the appointment of Bromwich, Obama will be able to breathe a little easier and trust that his Interior Department is doing the job they are supposed to.