On January 19th, a report was issued by a corporation called SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy). The report is entitled: Eastern Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Exploration and Military Readiness.

Kudos to SAFE for this ingenious doublespeak. SAFE prepared this report in concert with a company called Commonwealth Consulting Corporation. In case you were wondering, SAFE created the template for energy policy initiatives during the Bush Administration (remember the closed door energy policy meetings VP Cheney held? Even when compelled by the courts to open up the guest list for those meetings, Cheney refused). They are not energy specialists but have military backgrounds. Nor is Commonwealth Consulting Corporation considered an energy expert, but is a consulting firm with ties to the military and defense departments.  And there’s more to that story further on.

What’s interesting about SAFE is the mission statement on its website:

This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2010.