Do you have any idea whether the toxic chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process to release methane from coal seams pose a threat to drinking-water aquifers?
Neither do I.
But I’m pretty sure I’d like to know what the Vice President’s Energy Task Force said and did about it, given that hydraulic fracturing is one of the mainstays of Halliburton’s energy business.
An EPA engineer named Weston Wilson isn’t pleased with the agency’s process in deciding that hydraulic fracturing didn’t need to be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Wilson opines that the decision is scientifically unsupported and legally unsound, and points out that the the review committee that approved the study included a consultant for … Halliburton.
Now the fact that someone calls himself a whistleblower and puts out a competent-looking report doesn’t mean he’s right. But when the Vice President refuses to answer questions about what seems to be a strong conflict of interest on the grounds that the Task Force proceedings were confidential, I detect a strong odor of aged halibut.
Did you ever wonder whether the directors of Halliburton acted improperly in giving Halliburton’s outgoing CEO, Dick Cheney, a $20 million severance package on his way out the door to run for Vice President? Was that money well spent, from the viewpoint of Halliburton’s shareholders?
Well, wonder no more. It looks as if the shareholders got what they paid for.
The taxpayers? Well, that’s their lookout, isn’t it?