As BOEM’s new principal deputy director, former lobbyist Matt Giacona is shaping Gulf of Mexico oil policy and facilitating industry access. Ethics experts sound the alarm.
Our government does its best to avoid interfering with business as usual. The tale of the Rice's whale biological opinion is consistent with the federal government's response to the imminent climate collapse. In both cases the government essentially puts the crisis on hold as to not interfere with corporate interests. The government's likely climate response appears to be CO2 overshoot the internationally agreed upon CO2 target and let as yet unknown future technology remediate the atmospheric CO2 increase. The outlook for the Rice's whale is just as grim and hence, the lawsuit. Rather than require concrete measures to protect the whales, the biological opinion relies on vague future promises. All three branches of the US government (the executive, judicial and legislative) are corrupted by an economic system that externalizes costs for profits.
Our government does its best to avoid interfering with business as usual. The tale of the Rice's whale biological opinion is consistent with the federal government's response to the imminent climate collapse. In both cases the government essentially puts the crisis on hold as to not interfere with corporate interests. The government's likely climate response appears to be CO2 overshoot the internationally agreed upon CO2 target and let as yet unknown future technology remediate the atmospheric CO2 increase. The outlook for the Rice's whale is just as grim and hence, the lawsuit. Rather than require concrete measures to protect the whales, the biological opinion relies on vague future promises. All three branches of the US government (the executive, judicial and legislative) are corrupted by an economic system that externalizes costs for profits.