The Bush Family 'Oiligarchy

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Amid all the recent media coverage of the dark implications of Dick Cheney's service as CEO of Halliburton -- the world's largest oil services company -- there has been little mention of George W.'s own connections to Big Oil. In a four-part series in the progressive political webzine Consortium News, Sam Parry gives a detailed history of the ties between the Bush family and the oil industry.

Dating back at least 50 years, the Bush family's relationship with Big Oil is 'inextricably tied to the family's wealth and power. Gore's ties to Occidental Petroleum -- through family stock ownership and his father's work for the company -- and even Cheney's five years at the helm of Halliburton, pale by comparison.'

Another important question the media have failed to ask, says Parry, is what a restored Bush family 'oiligarchy' would mean for the environment and its defenders, who are 'at odds with oil drillers from Texas to Nigeria, from the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf.'

Parry's take: 'Given these ties that bind -- between the Bush-Cheney ticket and the oil industry -- global warming and other environmental concerns do not seem likely to rise to the top of the national agenda in a Bush-Cheney administration. The oil industry would be confident that it had staunch allies in the White House, people who not only understand the industry’s needs but who feel its pain.' -- Leif Utne
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