In a rebuke to President Obama, a Senate panel last week gave a thumbs-up to the creation of an alternative Gulf oil spill commission to rival that previously announced by the President.
The bipartisan commission was approved by five Democrats and ten Republicans on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Its members would be determined mainly by Members of Congress, on a 50/50 Democrat/Republican basis, with President Obama retaining the power to appoint the Chairman.
The move followed intense criticism of President Obama’s own announced commission–composed in substantial part of anti-drilling members like Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, and several individuals professionally focused on environmental law– from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), one of those involved in the alternative-commission effort, said earlier this week that the Obama Gulf oil spill commission “appears to me to be stacked with people philosophically opposed to offshore drilling.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) commented that “if the shoe were on the other foot, and President Bush was the president and he had submitted a list of names like this to us and everyone was related to the defense of oil companies, we would say this is not fair… And I’m saying to my colleagues this is not fair.”
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) also opined that “If there are questions about the views of the presidential commission … then I would err on the side [of] saying let’s get another point of view on the issue.”
The Senate panel-approved commission would have subpoena power, something the Obama-approved panel lacks.
Some groups and individuals concerned with the dueling commissions are decrying the move as one that could prove more favorable to the oil industry, overall, than the Obama-approved panel.
However, sources with whom Capitol Confidential spoke say the congressionally-controlled, bipartisan commission may be better placed to help review a topic–drilling–on which members of the Obama administration, and even Obama himself, have been criticized over alleged conflicts of interest, light handling of BP, and excessively harsh action affecting more responsible oil and gas companies.
According to a 2008 Center for Responsive Politics study, President Obama, as a candidate in the 2008 election, received more money from BP and other big names in the oil industry than did Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
In addition, environmentalists have been critical of perceived ties between Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and energy companies.
Meanwhile, influential Democrats such as Tony Podesta (who lobbies for BP and has reportedly earned close to a million dollars for his work) and Stan Greenberg (who reportedly oversaw BP’s green rebranding) have maintained close professional associations with BP.
The rival, bipartisan commission would have 180 days in which to develop recommendations, according to reports.
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