House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee are in the process of readying three bills on offshore drilling, and it seems that the Chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), has taken a page out of Dick Cheney's book on formulating energy policy. Which means, if you want to know the details, you need to either be a select Republican or on the guest list of Hastings':
... closed-door, invitation-only meeting with top energy lobbyists, including representatives from Chevron, Patton Boggs and about a dozen others.
And what about the Democrats on the Committee? They haven't been briefed.
But hey, no big deal. The three bills aren't dealing with anything that important. They would only:
... open waters off Southern California and much of the Atlantic Coast to drilling, set hard deadlines for the Obama administration to approve drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico and require the administration to quickly move forward on lease sales off Virginia and in the western Gulf.
... so who better to consult than Chevron and a squadron of industry lobbyists?