Judges skeptical of suit filed over 2001 Bush energy plan
WASHINGTON -- Federal appeals court judges expressed skepticism yesterday over a lawsuit brought by groups seeking to learn whether the energy industry unduly influenced a panel that drafted the Bush administration's 2001 energy plan.
Most notably, the two judges of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who had sided with the two groups in an earlier decision, Harry Edwards and David Tatel, said it was doubtful in light of a Supreme Court ruling in June that the organizations had any legal basis to gain access to records of meetings of the energy task force chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Sierra Club and Judicial Watch say the public has a right to know what role energy company executives played in crafting industry-friendly recommendations. They argue that industry participants who met with administration officials effectively became members of the task force while environmental and other groups were shut out.
The Bush administration opposes producing any records, saying that privacy is important to ensure members of such panels can speak candidly. The administration also maintains that the formal makeup of the task force was limited to government officials. Federal law requires government panels to conduct their business in public, unless all members are government officials.
During arguments yesterday, Edwards said the vice president's office already has filed an affidavit stating that no industry officials attended formal meetings or assisted in drafting the task force recommendations.
"They have said the committees don't exist as you think they do," Edwards said. "Isn't that the end of the case?"
Judicial Watch lawyer Paul Orfanedes said the group needed more documents to verify the claim. "We need to know the scope of participation of the private parties," Orfanedes said.
When the case was last considered by the appeals court in 2003, a divided three-judge panel rejected government arguments that the lawsuit would be an unconstitutional intrusion on the operations of the presidency.
Democrats had hoped the Supreme Court would uphold the earlier ruling and force the administration to reveal potentially embarrassing details about its relationship with energy company executives ahead of the November election.
But the court sent the case back, saying a federal district judge who ruled against the Bush administration demanded the opening of too much task force information. The high court also warned that the White House must be protected from "vexatious litigation" that might distract it from its duties.
This time, the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch say they will heed the Supreme Court's concerns and narrow the focus of the records they will seek.
The task force issued a report in 2001 that favored opening more public lands to oil and gas drilling. Most of its recommendations stalled in Congress. 