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Enron Mail |
Cheney's Role Offers Strengths And Liabilities
By Mike Allen and Dana Milbank Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, May 17, 2001; Page A01 The key to the energy proposal President Bush unveils today can be found on a wall in the three-room suite that houses his National Energy Policy Development Group, next door to the White House in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. On the wall hangs a huge erasable board that serves as a giant checklist to guide the preparation of the administration's eight-chapter energy policy, which Bush formally unveils in Minnesota today. For each chapter, there's a check mark for two rough drafts, a peer review, a final draft, two more rounds of recommendations on the drafts, then graphics and photos. Toward the end of the checklist is an all-important box to check: "Concurrence of the OVP." The OVP -- Office of the Vice President -- has driven every aspect of the energy report. No proposed recommendation has survived without the consent of one man: Vice President Cheney, the administration's indispensable man -- and chair of the energy task force. The release of the energy report shines a new spotlight on Cheney, a quiet conservative from Wyoming who has been given credit for running the show without annoying or upstaging his boss. The handling of the energy task force so far reflects Cheney's personality near perfectly: It is a closely held process with a high regard for the concerns of industry. This close involvement of Cheney is partially a strength, because the effort has been efficient and well-managed. But Cheney's strong role is also potentially the report's weakness. He is about to undergo a blast of unwanted scrutiny as critics seize on his finances and oil industry ties in an effort to discredit the policy. Democrats and environmental groups are charging that his judgment on energy matters is suspect because of his chairmanship until August of Halliburton Co., a Dallas-based energy services firm that is expected to benefit from several parts of President Bush's policy. Cheney, 60, made $36 million last year, most it in compensation from Halliburton, including salary and his exercise of stock options and sale of restricted stock. "He is seeing the problem entirely from the side of the energy producing industry that made him a millionaire, not from a consumer struggling to make ends meet," said Philip E. Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust. An official close to Cheney called such suggestions "an outrage," and said his expertise in the industry and knowledge of its technology were crucial to "trying to solve a problem of this magnitude." Although the plan has extensive recommendations about using technology to conserve energy and produce power more cleanly, the heart of the report is its conclusion that the United States needs hundreds more power plants, natural gas pipelines, oil wells and nuclear reactors. Several administration officials acknowledged that Cheney had handed ammunition to his critics by declaring in a speech in Toronto on April 30 that conservation "may be a sign of personal virtue," but is not a sound basis for a comprehensive energy policy. "Given his background, he should've been real careful," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has offered an alternative energy plan that he says focuses equally on supply and demand. "I think they've had some real stumbles." Sen. Craig Thomas (R), who succeeded Cheney as Wyoming's lone House member in 1989, said he does not expect such criticism to rattle the circumspect Cheney. "He'll just say, 'All right. That's the way it is, folks. I'm doing my job. Here's my plan,' " Thomas said. As always when questions are asked about Cheney's influence, White House officials argue vigorously that the energy plan is Bush's plan. An official close to Bush said Cheney and other task force members had updated the president often since beginning their work on Jan. 29. "At several critical decision points, the group has come to the president to ask him to make judgments and decisions," the official said. Cheney's directions are carried out by the task force's executive director, Andrew Lundquist, his deputy, Karen Knudsen, and four other staff members. Cheney also chairs the task force itself, which includes the secretaries of energy, interior, treasury, agriculture, commerce and transportation and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Aides say Cheney met with only half a dozen of the interest groups seeking input into the policy, including Enron Corp., the Houston energy conglomerate that is a large and longtime Bush contributor, and the Edison Electric Institute, an energy trade group. Vance Meyer, a spokesman for Enron, said the firm's chairman, Kenneth Lay, and another executive had a 30-minute meeting with Cheney. Edison assembled 15 or 20 chief executives to meet with Cheney. But Lundquist and Knudsen, representing Cheney, met with half of the 400 or so groups -- industry, environmental, regulatory and academic -- that requested access. Exactly which groups the Cheney advisers met with is being kept secret by the White House. The task force's stealthy operation reflects Cheney's distaste for publicity. Following news reports about the private nature of the energy deliberations, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Government Reform Committee requested information about the groups the task force met with. Cheney's counsel, David S. Addington, rebuffed the members of Congress, arguing that there was no legal requirement to comply with the request. In a seven-page response to the request, Lundquist wrote that the meetings "were simply forums to collect individual views rather than to bring a collective judgment to bear." White House officials have declined to disclose the list of meetings or attendees. Aides said representatives at the meetings included 118 energy industry or corporate groups, 40 renewable energy providers, 22 unions, 13 environmental groups, five academics, 63 governmental groups, six energy efficiency proponents and a consumer group. Environmentalists complain that the meetings reflected Cheney's predispositions. The vice president met with industry leaders, while dispatching aides to speak to environmentalists, several of which were grouped into one meeting. The meetings of 22 labor representatives, who gathered in groups, were publicized by the White House, but sessions with industry were not. Cheney, who declined to be interviewed for this article, told the Associated Press that he hasn't consulted with any officials from Halliburton and rejected the notion that the task force's work is compromised by his private meetings with industry officials who give money to the Republican Party. "Just because somebody makes a campaign contribution doesn't mean that they should be denied the opportunity to express their views to government officials," he said. Cheney chaired nine meetings of the Cabinet-level task force, mostly in his ceremonial office. Each of the meetings, attended by the task force members and aides, lasted 90 minutes, with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Bush economic adviser Lawrence B. Lindsey often reflecting different interests. For 20 minutes at the end of each session, Cheney told staffers to leave the room so the top officials could settle differences privately, without risk of the differences being leaked to the news media. In only a few cases did Bush have to resolve disputes among advisers, participants said. In most cases, Cheney was able discreetly to broker agreement among the Cabinet members. , 2001 The Washington Post Company
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