Dick Cheney is on the board of Genie Energy which owns 89% of Israel Energy Initiatives, the company accused of operating a less-than-transparent oil shale campaign in Israel.
The 46th Vice President of the United States and former CEO of Halliburton Company has been charged with resorting to bribery in order to secure a natural gas project in Nigeria, according to a CNN report.
Dick Cheney is also on the Genie Energy board, which oversees the strategic financial, operational and public policy matters related to shale oil ventures both in the United States (AMSO LLC) and in Israel (Israel Energy Initiatives). IEI is the company that aims to test AMSO’s in-situ oil shale extraction technology in the Elah Valley.
Israel Energy Initiatives was caught conducting preliminary surveys for an oil shale pilot project in the Adullam district late last year (though they were granted a license to do so from the Ministry of Infrastructure), without first submitting an independent environmental impact assessment or consulting the local community. This was before the strategic advisory board was formed.
The Citizen Coalition to Save Adullam subsequently organized and has launched a relentless campaign to demand due process and protest the threat to their land, which has culminated in a legal petition to revoke the company’s license.
Writing for AOL, Matthew Kalman drew attention to a Rothschild “family battle” that has emerged as a result of an open letter that Green Prophet sent to David de Rothschild, in which we cite the potential ecological and social impact should this project proceed without due process.
Dick Cheney, Rupert Murdoch, Lord Jacob Rothschild, and Harold Vinegar from Shell are just a small handful of powerful executives who stand to profit from oil shale exploration in Israel, which is being exploited under the guise of Zionism and energy independence.
The citizens of Adullam, who attended a 1,000 strong protest in central Israel last Friday, have little to gain but a lot to lose. One moshav is being paid $50,000 as compensation for what could be a multi billion dollar project, but most of the communities, as well as the region’s extraordinary biodiversity, would suffer irreparably if the pilot project proceeds to commercial operations.
Dick Cheney’s legal representation denies the bribery charges.
“This matter involves the activities of an international four-company joint venture (which included KBR, then a subsidiary of Halliburton) well over a decade ago,” attorney Terrence O’Connell told CNN, adding that “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton.”
Along with Kellogg, Brown and Root – one of the construction firms that built the natural gas plant – Halliburton paid $177 million to settle the dispute.
Allegedly, between 1994 and 2004, Dick Cheney and nine others spent $180 million on bribes.
:: CNN
More on Oil Shale Exploration in Israel:
Thanks Dr. Gotlieb. I’m going to be discussing this issue on an Iowa radio station in about one hour. I will keep the rest of you posted.
Keep at it Tafline. This is an important issue.