This morning, the Project on Government Oversight warned that the US Department of Interior under Trump’s Interior Secretary David Bernhardt urgently needs more oversight to prevent corruption amid the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
The analysis also calls attention to efforts by the oil and gas industry to extract lucrative tax-payer funded bailouts and concessions that allow the industry to break revenue sharing agreements regarding the extraction of resources on publicly-owned lands. The Project on Government Oversight also documents the long-standing conflicts of interest amongst key leaders in the Department of Interior.
The Project On Government Oversight argues that, “During the current pandemic, it’s imperative for Congress to conduct rigorous oversight. With tens of billions of dollars on the table in potential revenue for natural resources, the government should be working to ensure it collects as much money as possible from these publicly owned resources to help the American people. Congress should keep in mind that this money could be used to help purchase personal protective equipment, fund unemployment benefits, and develop a vaccine and treatment for COVID-19—all purposes far more urgent than increasing the profit margins of the extractive industries.”
READ THE FULL ANALYSIS HERE: https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2020/04/interior-department-needs-more-oversight-to-prevent-corruption-amid-a-crisis/