Sex, Drugs and Bribery Corruption Must Delay Offshore Drilling Decision

A large number of U.S. government officials overseeing oil and gas drilling leases have been caught participating in a massive network of corruption with a number of oil company employees that is at least as large.

Government officials in the Minerals Management Service, the government body that takes payments from energy corporations in exchange for leases on public lands, took huge bribes from oil company employees, exchanged cocaine and other illegal drugs with oil company employees, and even had sex with oil company employees - employees from the same oil companies that the goernment officials were supposed to oversee.

(see Reuters article)

The full extent of the oil industry and government corruption network is not yet known.  However, many of the companies that were taking part in the corruption, such as Shell, Hess, and Chevron do business with the administration of Sarah Palin in Alaska.

Perhaps it is coincidence that some members of Congress have been pushing to give these same oil companies expanded rights for government leases to engage in offshore drilling.  Perhaps not.  At the very least, the integrity of the government's supervision of oil drilling in public waters is severely compromised.  It may well be that government projections of oil revenues and supplies are not accurate.  There could be money missing, taxpayer money that has made its way illegally into oil corporations' bank accounts.

However far the oil corruption scandal actually goes, there must be time to investigate the crimes and to fix the damage before additional offshore drilling can even be honestly discussed in Washington D.C.

I would personally like to know how many of the Republican Party insiders who chanted "drill baby drill" at the Republican National Convention knew about this sex, drugs, and bribery network within the oil drilling companies.