Kerik withdraws
Former New York City Police Chief Bernard Kerik has withdrawn from the nominating process to become the next Homeland Security Secretary as a variety of scandals bubble to the surface. Among them, some odd profits on Taser International stock options, legal issues over New Jersey condominium bills, and a certain undocumented nanny and housekeeper.
Also, Bush has nominated a former natural gas company executive as the new Energy Secretary. The New York Times writes that:
Energy analysts said that in selecting Mr. Bodman, Mr. Bush had made a practical decision and given the job to an academic and an experienced manager who had run both an industrial company and Fidelity Investments, the mutual fund behemoth. The president also named a person, as is customary, who had not run a major energy company.
I guess I’m missing something. I thought natural gas was energy, but I guess it’s a “chemical.” Writes a J. P. Morgan analyst:
If he had been the head of a large multinational oil company he would have been perceived to be drawn immediately into large conflicts of interest, given that his decisions would affect the fate of companies that he owned stock in or that he had worked for. Cabot Corporation is for the most part not involved in energy anymore (Jeffrey Zekauskas, quoted in The New York Times)
Oh. I see. Turns out the nominee, Samuel Bodman, worked at Cabot for 15 years, and during that time transformed the corporation from a disorganized mix of companies to a streamlined entity focussed on natural gas importing and the manufacturing of three chemicals (one used in tires, one in cell phones, one in sealants). Before that, Bodman worked at Fidelity for 17 years, eventually becoming President, and prior to that, at Harvard, where he taught Chemical Engineering. Since leaving Cabot in 2001, Bodman has worked in the Commerce and Treasury departments.
Bodman’s first priority will be opening up ANWR to oil drilling, of course. And despite the “custom” of nominating non-energy executives, there’s no indication whether energy policy will be dictated by Bodman, or, as it has been over the last four years, by Vice President Dick Cheney, a former energy executive.