ANWR and the Halliburton Hightail: No Oil Service Contracts for Non-US-Based Companies?

[CorpGovActivist]

For environmentalists looking for a way to:

1. Reinject urgency into the ANWR debate;

2. Capitalize on the current Democratic majorities in Congress; and

3. Call attention to Halliburton's oil service contracts in US parks and on US lands...

... asking your favorite environmentalists in Congress to introduce legislation into the Department of Interior appropriations bill, barring any company with a non-US HQ from energy service contracts on Federal lands, would be a heckuva power play.

The logic of such a provision is compelling: only American-based companies should be entrusted with these contracts, as there is a special trust that arises with respect to protecting these lands for future generations.

- Dave

[Subdivisions]

1. Dave, you are a gem! Gotta love someone that hates Halliburton

as much as I do.

Long story.

[CorpGovActivist]

2. Long Story?!? I Love a Two-Pinter-Minimum!

:rofl:

- Dave

[Subdivisions]

8. To make a long story short...

I was raised the better part of my younger life by Brown & Root, Inc. payroll. My dad built power plants with them. I don't know if they were a Halliburton holding at the (it might have been Bechtel...hmmmf...pot...black) time but I reserve the right to justify the connection. Anyway, he eventually became a nuclear certified pipefitter inspector and his job was to supervise and execute the inspection of the welds (using X-ray technology) that joined the piping. This was at the Comanche Peak NUCLEAR Power Plant in Glen Rose, Texas...well within the range of making Dallas and Ft Worth dead zone comparable to Chernobyl.

In the course of his duties he encountered hundreds of feet of pipe where the welds were "pitted". A pitted weld indicates that the welding equipment was not finely tuned to produce a satisfactory weld. This is most probably caused by an improper mix of gases and/or amperage setting. Anyway he failed this section of piping and (K)BR had a fit and ordered him to pass them anyway because there's no time in the schedule and it's cost prohibitive, blah, blah, blah. Dad refused and they subsequently relieved him of his job after 16 years of service. He testified to the NRC but nothing ever came of it. No surprise there.

Also, as a member of a major international construction trade union, I have and issue with no-bid contracts for government construction projects. Halliburton seems to be the primary benefactor of these no-bid contracts, locking out contractors that might have put us to work. As it is, we're hurtin' down here in Texas.

All that aside, Halliburton is just plain evil.

[aquart]

3. Only American-based companies should get military contracts, too.

Why would an arab company want to feed our soldiers?

[CorpGovActivist]

6. These Sorts of Award Notices...

... always make me wonder which American company could have forestalled a layoff, if only the contracting agency/entity had more rigorously applied the Buy American Act:

http://www.fbo.gov/servlet/Documents/R/1441279

http://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/CPAIRAQ/APOAE/Awards/W914NS-05-C-9003.html

- Dave

[aquart]

10. We have a Buy American Act???? Who knew?

[Thothmes]

11. Because we would pay them to.

[MasonJar]

4. It is only fair that companies that pay US taxes get US contracts of any kind.

[CorpGovActivist]

5. Only Fair That Taxpayers Set Uniformly-Applied Terms and Conditions...

... on those contracts.

- Dave

[Democrats_win]

7. Some cities require new firemen to reside within city limits. Halliburton is either American or not

This idea is so good that it would get support from Democrats or Republicans. That is, Republicans who love America--not the ones who are in government.

[CorpGovActivist]

9. Your Analogy Is a GREAT One...

... same difference, too.

- Dave