Today we noticed that the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)—the trade group representing offshore oil drilling corporations like BP—has tweaked a key word in its mission statement.
The change happened sometime after we cited NOIA's mission statement upon discovering the group was headed up by former Minerals Management Service Director Randall Luthi, who was once tasked with regulating the industry:
According to its website, NOIA's mission is "to secure reliable access and a favorable regulatory and economic environment for the companies that develop the nation's valuable offshore energy resources in an environmentally responsible manner." Its members include "producers of crude oil and natural gas, contractors, marine engineers, service and supply companies and others with an interest in producing energy from the nation's outer continental shelf."
Apparently no longer wanting a "favorable" regulatory environment, NOIA is now willing to settle for "fair."
Looks like the MMS, which is undergoing structural reinvention in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, isn't the only actor in the offshore drilling landscape doing some soul-searching. Find a screenshot of the old mission statement, as it appeared on NOIA's website on April 15, 2008, below the jump:
Has anyone asked to see NOIA's contacts with MMS during the time Luthi was director -- Luthi's diaries, letters, emails, etc.? Luthi must have been involved in the issuance of the expanded 5 year plan for OCS development -- the one that was issued in the waning days of the Bush Administration. That would have been one of the key issues for NOIA. Its kind of strange when Luthi went to work for NOIA. Isn't there a one year "lobbying" ban and didn't he wait one year to join NOIA?
Posted by: madhatter | Jun 11, 2010 at 04:31 PM