Culture Of Corruption And The Oil Spill

How much did corruption at the Minerals Management Service contribute to the Gulf oil spill fiasco?

Minerals Management Service Director Liz Birnbaum has resigned. Upon hearing of the resignation, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Birnbaum "has been a strong leader, and we have done tremendous work." Salazar also said that Birnbaum helped to address a "culture of corruption" in MMS.

In reality, Liz Birnbaum contributed to the culture of corruption, enabled and abetted by a number of other political appointees at MMS and Interior, including Secretary Salazar, who never acted to correct the record after Birnbaum lied under oath to Congress in March about an offshore drilling comment period.

The story that remains to be pursued in the context of the April 20, 2010 oil rig explosion and spill is whether the blatant dishonesty American Solutions experienced in our own dealings with and observations of MMS and Interior extended into more important life and death matters like drilling safety and oversight.