Tuesday, 24 Jan 2006

The Royalty Wee

Taxpayers have been getting screwed on oil and gas royalties

A three-month New York Times investigation has uncovered a complex tale of oil and gas royalties, price discrepancies, accounting chicanery, and lax enforcement. But at its heart, it's the same old story: The Bush administration is essentially helping energy companies screw taxpayers. The American people own oil and gas reserves on public land; energy companies pay royalties to extract and sell them. Oil and gas prices have been rising sharply for years, but the royalties haven't -- if they had, taxpayers would have received an additional $700 million in natural-gas payments in fiscal year 2005 alone. A hubbub over oil-royalty underpayment around the turn of the century resulted in a wave of legal settlements and regulatory reform. Only a couple of years later, though, the Bush administration loosened the rules around gas royalties and booted a couple of the toughest enforcers. The results were predictable. After the NYT published its story yesterday, lawmakers -- shocked, shocked to find energy companies were gouging the public -- started demanding investigations. Stay tuned.


Can't face another year chained to the same old desk or stuck in the same old cube? Itching to start a new career in an environmental field? Fortunately for you, Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization knows a thing or two about job searching. He assesses the upcoming year's eco-jobs market and dispenses advice on how to remake your living.

Kid Tested, Mother Appalled

Bush admin to accept pesticide testing on humans, and in some cases kids

Enviros, public-interest groups, members of Congress, and even some government scientists are criticizing soon-to-be-released U.S. EPA rules on pesticide testing on humans. The regulations -- leaked in advance of their formal unveiling, which could happen as soon as this week -- would accept tests of pesticides on non-pregnant adults. In most cases the EPA wouldn't accept data from studies that involve the "intentional pesticide dosing" of children and pregnant women, but manufacturers could still conduct those tests, and the agency could accept the data if it decided it was needed to protect public health. Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, says the new regs also wouldn't rule out tests that expose kids to pesticides without putting the chemicals directly into their systems, like a controversial study, scuttled last year, that would have paid parents to spray pesticides near their children's beds.

F'd Troops

Whistle-blower says Halliburton supplied foul water to troops in Iraq

Former employees of a subsidiary of Halliburton, the big military-services contractor once helmed by Vice President Dick Cheney, say the company exposed thousands of American troops and Iraqi civilians to sewage-laced water. Testifying yesterday before Senate Democrats, whistle-blower and water-quality expert Ben Carter said he informed his Halliburton superiors last year that the water it was supplying to Camp Junction City in Ramadi was contaminated by coliform bacteria and other microorganisms. Carter said the water sickened residents, who routinely used it to shower, shave, and brush their teeth. Halliburton didn't act, says Carter, but did instruct him not to tell the military its water needed treatment. "They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut," says Carter, who resigned over the matter. Halliburton denies the allegations.

The Fries Have It

Boston diner gets its heat from used veggie oil

Restaurant owner Don Levy geared up for this year's chilly Boston winter by getting rid of his furnace. Wait, it's not as batty as it sounds: Levy replaced his old heating system with a boiler that runs on 100 percent vegetable oil -- a readily available resource, so long as Bostonians keep eating fries. Not only is Levy avoiding high natural-gas heating prices, he also doesn't have to pay sanitation workers to haul away his leftover oil. "I'm saving money, and I'm saving the planet, too," says Levy, who is confident that he'll recoup his investment within five years. To those that argue that alternative-energy systems aren't economical, we say: Booyah!