What is Going With Off-Shore Drilling, Secretary Salazar?

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar with President Obama,
"Fousesquawk says, 'Drill, baby, drill'".


Today, I got an e-mail from "American Solutions" (That's Newt Gingrich's organization for all you UC Santa Cruz Community Studies majors.) It was regarding something I had signed onto that they had sent to the Interior Department regarding off-shore oil drilling. I thought I would share it with you.

"Dear Gary,

Over one month ago we submitted your comments in favor of drilling offshore to the Interior Department. In fact, we submitted 90,358 of them. Remember why?

It was because Secretary Salazar said he wanted feedback from the public about offshore drilling before he made any decisions. He pledged that these decisions would not be made "behind closed doors."

Well sources have now told us that of the 530,000 comments submitted overall, those in support of drilling won out by more than a 2-1 margin. Yet, as of this writing, there has not been a public announcement of the final results.

After all the talk about transparency, this just begs the question: why are they hiding the final results?

Today, we decided to get to the bottom of this.

So this morning, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, asking Secretary Salazar's department to hand over any internal documents related to the public comment period, and the final results. They're required by law to respond to within 20 business days.

Please take a moment to read exactly what we requested by going here.

http://www.americansolutions.com/drill/2009/10/what-does-secretary-salazar-have-to-hide.php


It's not acceptable for the Obama Administration to sit on news about the number of Americans who support offshore drilling.

It's time to get moving on a real American energy policy. And it's also time to hold the Obama Administration accountable for its pledge of transparency and open government.

Thanks for all you do, and we'll be sure to let you know what happens next."

Sincerely,

Vince Haley
Vice President for Policy
American Solutions
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Well, I wonder what Secretary Salazar will say in his response. Stay tuned.