Adults Only – The New Interior Department Reality Show

Update: In a report to Congress on September 24, the Department of the Interior confirmed that the controversial Royalty in Kind Program will be phased out this Thursday, September 30. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEM) announced that the agency is successfully completing the orderly close-out of the Royalty in Kind Program, which accepted oil and gas in lieu of cash as royalty payments on federal energy resources. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (shown here with BOEM Director Michael Bromwich) stated that all existing contracts would be allowed to expire and no further Royalty in Kind sales would take place.
Download the complete report to Congress HERE.
Originally posted September 12, 2008: The fine folks who gave America the Teapot Dome Scandal are pleased to bring their fellow citizens a sizzling new take on government outreach, including sex, drugs, and lucrative consulting contracts. The lurid scandal, which centers on Interior’s Royalty in Kind program, was co-produced by Chevron, Shell, Gary Williams Energy, and Hess Corporation. Hundreds of articles covering this topic are available via Google News, but consider this post at SLATE, which has hyperlinks to the internal investigations by Interior’s Office of Inspector General.