Oil patch insider: Haaland makes watchlist; Sullivan slams O&G policy; Yergin lauded
- May 23, 2021
Kay Cashman, Petroleum News
Interior Secretary Debra Haaland has been added to Protect the Public’s Trust watchlist of executive branch leaders with ethical questions to answer, the organization said May 19.
“Despite a dearth of executive experience and a number of issues with previous financial disclosure documents” Haaland was named to lead the 70,000-employee agency with a complex budget that could run to more than $17 billion, the nonprofit organization said in a press release, noting Haaland “has also appointed top lieutenants and advisors whose numerous potential conflicts of interest could seriously hamper their abilities to perform their duties.”
Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, described the way Haaland “appears to have handled her required financial disclosures” as “haphazard.” He also questioned whether she had taken transparency seriously.