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Scott Angelle

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Scott Angelle
Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
In office
May 24, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byBrian Salerno
Succeeded byTBD
Member of the
Louisiana Public Service Commission
from the 2nd district
In office
January 1, 2013 – May 22, 2017
Preceded byJimmy Field
Succeeded byDamon Baldone
52nd Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
In office
May 12, 2010 – November 22, 2010
GovernorBobby Jindal
Preceded byMitch Landrieu
Succeeded byJay Dardenne
Louisiana Secretary of Natural Resources
In office
January 30, 2004 – August 8, 2012
GovernorKathleen Blanco
Bobby Jindal
Preceded byJack Caldwell
Succeeded byStephen Chustz
Personal details
Born
Scott Anthony Angelle

(1961-11-20) November 20, 1961 (age 62)
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 2010)
Republican (2010–present)
SpouseDianne Bourque
EducationUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette (BS)

Scott Anthony Angelle (born November 20, 1961) is an American politician who is the former director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in Washington, D.C. From 2013 to 2017, he was the District 2 member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, an elected five-person utility regulatory body.[1]

In 2010, Angelle served six months as lieutenant governor.[2] In 2015, he ran for governor as a Republican in the October 24 election and finished in third place with 214,907 votes (19.3 percent).

In 2016, Angelle was an unsuccessful candidate for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district seat held by Charles Boustany, who instead ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican David Vitter. Angelle's opponents included Lafayette businessman and retired Army Lt. Colonel Greg Ellison, former state Representative Brett Geymann of Lake Charles, former United States Ambassador to East Timor Grover Rees III, and, the eventual winner, Clay Higgins, a former spokesperson for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office who gained attention for his Crime Stoppers videos that harshly attack the criminal element.

In May 2017, Angelle was appointed as the fourth director for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in the United States Department of the Interior under Secretary Ryan Zinke. The post does not require confirmation by the United States Senate.[1]

Education

Angelle is an honor graduate of the St. Martin Parish public schools. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Land Management and is a cum laude graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.[3]

Political career

Early political career

Angelle was elected at the age of twenty-five to the St. Martin Parish Police Jury, the local governing body known as the county commission in most other states. From 2000 to 2004, Angelle was the first parish president of St. Martin Parish and the vice president from 1998 to 2000 of the Huval Companies in Lafayette, Louisiana. Earlier, he worked as a petroleum land manager in Lafayette.

Department of Natural Resources

From 2004 to 2012, with the exception of his six months as lieutenant governor, Angelle was the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources under Governors Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and then Bobby Jindal.[4] He replaced Jack Caldwell.[5] Angelle resigned on August 8, 2012, and he was replaced by Stephen Chustz.[6] As Angelle resigned from the Natural Resources position, Jindal nominated him to represent Louisiana's 3rd congressional district on the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.[7]

Lieutenant Governor

As part of the interim appointment as lieutenant governor, Angelle agreed not to seek the position in the special election held in November 2010. The vacancy occurred when Mitch Landrieu resigned to become the mayor of New Orleans. Angelle was a Democrat until he switched to the Republican affiliation on October 26, 2010.[8][9] Both parties had attempted to recruit Angelle to run for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district in the 2010 elections to succeed Democrat Charlie Melancon, who ran instead for the U. S. Senate in 2010 against Republican David Vitter, whom Angelle also opposed in the 2015 gubernatorial race. Earlier, Angelle had declined the overtures from both parties to run for Congress.[10]

Angelle officially began the duties of lieutenant governor on May 17, 2010. He temporarily relinquished the job of secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to Robert Harper but continued to serve as the governor's lobbyist to the legislature.[11] Angelle returned to his position in Natural Resources after his time as lieutenant governor ended.[12]

File:AngelleMoratoriumRally.jpg
Scott Angelle speaking at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La in July 2010 demanding the federal government to end the drilling moratorium.[13]

Moratorium Rally

On July 21, 2010, Angelle led a rally of over 12,000 citizens in Lafayette's Cajundome demanding the federal government to "Lift the Moratorium Now!" President Barack Obama had imposed the 2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[14] There, Angelle notably said, "This moratorium is not hurting the stock holders of BP, or Exxon or Chevron; this moratorium is hurting the Cheramies, and the Calais, and the Dupuis, and the Robins and the Boudreauxs, and the Thibodeauxs," referring to the negative effect on the local economy that the moratorium may have.[15] The moratorium was lifted in October 2010, a move considered a pivotal point in Angelle's political career.

Sinkhole controversy

On August 3, 2012, the discovery of the Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana was the result of a collapsed salt dome operated by the Texas Brine Company.[16] This collapse allowed oil and gases to escape and surface.[17] Angelle has received criticism for leaving his Department of Natural Resources position five days after the disaster began, however, it was later discovered that the sinkhole was due to months of seismic activity that The Texas Brine Company ignored.[18] As of October 2014, the sinkhole is still ongoing while local residents continue a legal battle with the Texas Brine Company.[19] On September 25, 2015, Assumption Parish President, Martin Triche, stated "To suggest that Scott Angelle abandoned Bayou Corne and Assumption Parish is nothing short of completely false. Senator Vitter was not there for our residents when Scott was."[20] Ryan Cross, Angelle's gubernatorial campaign manager said, "Scott had already made the decision he was going to run for PSC. He jumpstarted the response and coordinated it on the ground. He was one of the first people down at the sinkhole site." [21]

Public Service Commissioner

In the 2012 PSC race, Angelle, with 213,485 votes (57.2 percent), won all thirteen parishes in District 2 to claim the seat vacated by Jimmy Field, a Baton Rouge attorney. The Democrat Forest Wright finished second in the balloting with 76,336 votes (20.5 percent), and Republican State Representative Erich Ponti of Baton Rouge, trailed in third place with 43,287 ballots (11.6 percent). Two other contenders, a Republican and a No Party contender, shared the remaining 11 percent of the vote.[22]

2015 gubernatorial campaign

Main article: 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election

Angelle lost by a relatively narrow margin in the primary to his fellow Republican, U.S. Senator David Vitter, who took on Democrat John Bel Edwards of Tangipahoa Parish in the November 21 general election. Another of Angelle's opponents in the governor's race was his elected successor as lieutenant governor, Jay Dardenne of Baton Rouge, who finished in fourth place in the contest.[23]

Dardenne quickly endorsed Edwards for the November 21 runoff election against Vitter. Angelle remained silent on the race and refused to endorse either candidate.[24] State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, a 2004 Democratic opponent of Vitter, called upon Angelle to join him in endorsing Vitter. Remaining silent, said Kennedy, is the equivalent of an endorsement of Edwards.[25] Angelle spokesman Ryan Cross responded to Kennedy's accusations saying "John Kennedy is confused. He is the eternal president of the RINO club. He endorsed John Kerry for President [in 2004], who fought to kill the Keystone Pipeline; he's run statewide as a liberal Democrat twice; and he's been all over the map on issues like the minimum wage, abortion, and tax increases."[26]

2016 congressional campaign

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2016 § District 3

On March 3, 2016, Angelle announced his candidacy for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, which is being vacated by Charles Boustany.[27] Angelle polled 44 percent in the runoff contest against former St. Landry Parish sheriff's deputy Clay Higgins, having run best in the Lake Charles area.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement

On May 23, 2017, the United States Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, made Angelle the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's fourth Director.[28] That year, the Gulf of Mexico produced $2.8 billion in lease and royalty payments to the federal government.[15] Angelle has frequently traveled to Texas and Louisiana to meet with industry executives and has encouraged them to directly call his cellphone to avoid disclosure in public records requests.[15][29][30] Angelle's rule changes are forecast to save the oil and gas industry over $1.3 billion in regulatory compliance costs over the next decade.[15]

In 2017, the Interior Department withdrew its sole liability bonding requirement on rig owners, which had required offshore drillers to post guarantees that they would pay for the ultimate removal of their rigs.[31] The change was lobbied for by Trent Lott and John Breaux, and will save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars.[15] Drillers have posted $2.9 billion of the estimated $40 billion in removal costs.[15] In July 2017, the Interior Department reduced the royalty rates drillers must pay the government to drill on the Gulf's Outer Continental Shelf from 18.75% to 12.5%.[32]

In June 2017, Angelle doubled the time drillers are given to remove unproductive or damaged platforms.[33] In October 2017, the Bureau responded to a 672,000 gallon oil leak from a pipeline fracture southeast of Venice, Louisiana in the largest accident since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[34]

In December 2017, Angelle reduced maintenance requirements on offshore platforms.[35] That month, Angelle proposed to relax the well-control rule, which had been implemented in response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion.[15] Angelle's proposal would reduce blowout preventer inspection requirements, allow operations to continue while liftboats approach, and would save the industry $986 million in the next decade.[15]

Personal life

Angelle and his wife have three daughters and two sons. He is a parishioner of Saint Bernard Roman Catholic Church in Breaux Bridge. His father, J. Burton Angelle, was a state representative from 1964 to 1972 and the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries during the first three administrations of Governor Edwin Washington Edwards.[36]

Angelle served on Sunoco Logistics's board of directors for four years, for which he was paid $1 million.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Louisiana political veteran Scott Angelle to head federal offshore drilling oversight agency". The Baton Rouge Advocate. May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  2. ^ "Day after resignation, Angelle announces PSC candidacy". Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved August 9, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Angelle bio on the Louisiana Governor's web pages (accessed May 15, 2010). See also Sandra Thompson.
  4. ^ "Angelle resigns post as DNR secretary, Jindal liaison", August 8, 2012". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  5. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/226429962/?terms=Scott+Angelle+Natural+Resources
  6. ^ https://ballotpedia.org/Scott_Angelle
  7. ^ "Jindal appoints Scott Angelle to LSU Board of Supervisor". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  8. ^ "Governor Jindal Picks Angelle for Louisiana Lt. Governor". Bayou Buzz. April 26, 2010. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2010. An alternative scenario is that the office of lieutenant governor be abolished, as Jindal prefers, but doing so has gained little traction in the Legislature despite the efforts of State Representative Cameron Henry of Jefferson Parish.
  9. ^ Anderson, Ed (October 27, 2010). "Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle switches political parties". The Times-Picayune. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. nola.com. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  10. ^ "Queue Begins to Form for Melancon's Open Seat". Roll Call. September 8, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  11. ^ Interim lieutenant governor starts Monday, Times-Picayune, May 16, 2010, Metro Edition, p. A3 (accessed May 16, 2010).
  12. ^ "Angelle takes office as lt. governor," Daily Star (Hammond, Louisiana), May 17, 2010, p. 6A
  13. ^ Rally for Economic Survival
  14. ^ "Lift the Moratorium Now, July 26, 2010".
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lipton, Eric (March 11, 2018). "Trump Rollbacks Target Offshore Rules 'Written With Human Blood'". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  16. ^ "Salt-Dome Locations In The Gulf Coastal Plain, South-Central United States" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Insurance fight over cost of 37-acre sinkhole in Bayou Corne".
  18. ^ "Meet the Town That's Being Swallowed by a Sinkhole".
  19. ^ "Mysterious environmental disaster unfolding in Louisiana bayou community atop gas storage caves".
  20. ^ "Vitter, Angelle lay blame for Bayou Corne".
  21. ^ "Scott Angelle pushes back on David Vitter's attacks over Bayou Corne".
  22. ^ "Louisiana election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  23. ^ "Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  24. ^ "John Bel Edwards defeats David Vitter for Louisiana governor". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune.
  25. ^ John Neely Kennedy, guest on The Moon Griffon Show, November 13, 2015
  26. ^ Crisp, Elizabeth. "John Kennedy: Scott Angelle 'needs to step up and tell us where he is' in governor's race". The Advocate. The Advocate. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  27. ^ "Angelle announces campaign for Congress". KATC. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  28. ^ Press Release (May 22, 2017). "Former Louisiana State Official Scott A. Angelle Named as Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement". Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  29. ^ Scott Angelle Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (October 24, 2017). LAGCOE 2017 Keynote Presentation by Scott Angelle, BSEE. Cajundome & Convention Center - Lafayette, Louisiana USA: LAGCOE.
  30. ^ John Oliver - Last Week Tonight (November 11, 2018). Drain the Swamp: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO). HBO.
  31. ^ Press Release (February 2, 2017). "BOEM Withdraws Sole Liability Orders". Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  32. ^ Press Release (July 7, 2017). "BOEM Completes Analysis of Royalty Rates for Offshore Oil and Gas Leases". Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  33. ^ Press Release (June 9, 2017). "BSEE Rule Allows Industry More Development Time". Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  34. ^ Caron, Christina (October 29, 2017). "How a 672,000-Gallon Oil Spill Was Nearly Invisible". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  35. ^ Press Release (December 28, 2017). "BSEE Proposes Revisions to Production Safety Systems Regulations". Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  36. ^ "News Release" (PDF). Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
for the 2nd district
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
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