Former Interior Secretary Norton Now A Lawyer For Royal Dutch Shell - Marketwatch

[hatrack]

Surprise!!!

HOUSTON (MarketWatch) -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) Wednesday said it hired Gale Norton to serve as a counsel for the oil giant.
The move comes amid rising scrutiny on Capitol Hill of Norton's former agency's dealings with the oil industry.

Norton, who stepped down as interior secretary on March 31, will be based primarily out of Colorado, and will serve as general counsel for Shell's unconventional resources division, Shell said. Shell "is currently engaged in developing and testing proprietary technology designed to enhance oil recovery from certain unconventional sources, such as oil shale and extra heavy oil," Shell spokeswoman Destin Singleton said in a statement. Shell didn't immediately respond to a voice mail message Wednesday.

Norton's hiring comes at a tough time for her former agency. With the Democratic takeover of Congress, leading lawmakers have signaled they will closely scrutinize the Interior Department's policies for collecting oil and gas royalties from public lands.

The Minerals Management Service has come in for particular criticism, after agency omissions excused the oil industry from paying royalties on Gulf of Mexico leases from 1998 and 1999. Incoming Democratic committee chairmen plan hearings on the matter.

EDIT

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ex-interior-secretary-norton-join-shell/story.aspx?guid=%7BD222FD60-8116-41AC-B1B2-342CB0F65BE7%7D

[va4wilderness]

1. Nonconventional oil extraction has a lot of problems....

See http://www.earthworksaction.org/publications.cfm?pubID=91 under the nonconventional oil and gas section

No doubt she's selling her services at a high price! Yuck.