Hmmm, could have used a fact-checker though. Almost feel like fact-checking now, but this is old, I did what I could with the time I had.

Website copy for a project of CADF:

Fire J. Steven Griles

J. Steven Griles is the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior. The Interior Department is charged with conserving and protecting the nation's land, land that belongs to the people of the United States. But Griles, like many Bush appointees, seems to care more about protecting the interests of private companies than those of ordinary citizens.

Which is only natural, really, given that Griles spent many years as a lobbyist for oil, coal, and mining businesses. Even though Griles recused himself from dealing with issues his former clients have interests in, it appears that he is continuing to lobby on behalf of those "former" clients. This lobbying is informal, of course -- "informal" meaning: Griles hasn't actually told the American people he's giving away and selling public land to private interests.

Why would he? He's doing just fine receiving $284,000 a year from his old company, National Environmental Strategies, an oil and gas industry lobbying firm. And when Griles isn't busy counting his kickbacks, he's meeting with people who could give him even more money. Since taking office, Griles has had 100 or more meetings with people who have financial stakes in the very issues he's supposedly recused himself from.

Maybe he's hoping we won't notice that he's repeatedly violated his recusal agreement. Or that he's selling off public land to private interests. Or that he's meeting regularly with so-called "former" clients.

Maybe he's hoping we'll look the other way.

Well, we did -- for a while, anyway. Or at least our attention was temporarily focused elsewhere -- on the war, for instance, and the dismal economy. So for a while we didn't quite notice, or realize, or believe what the Interior Department was doing. It seemed unreal, after all. Leveling scores of mountaintops in order to extract coal? Pre-empting forest fires by cutting down old-growth trees? Pumping billions of gallons of water into the ground in order to retrieve polluting methane? And then leaving that land soaking in saltwater that poisons area crops and wildlife habitat?

It made no sense.

What is this? James Watt's reign of environmental terror all over again? No. This time it's worse. So bad, in fact, that even mainstream organizations like Republicans for Environmental Protection are unhappy with the Bush Administration's environmental policies, many of which have been engineered and executed by Griles. When the Republican organization graded the Administration on its environmental record in eight issue areas, the Administration received six D's, a B-minus for farm policy and an F for energy policy.

President Reagan fired Watt because he blatantly disregarded the will of the American people and failed to do his job.

During the Reagan administration, Griles was involved in selling 17,000 acres of federal land to a private company for $42,000, well below market value. Several months later, the buyers resold the land, and turned a $37 million profit.

Now Griles is up to his old tricks again.

And guess what?

This time we're looking.

And we won't turn away.

In fact we won't stop looking until Griles gets fired.