American politician
Scott Angelle
|
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Scott_Angelle_official_photo.jpg/220px-Scott_Angelle_official_photo.jpg) |
|
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In office
May 24, 2017 ? January 20, 2021
|
President
| Donald Trump
|
---|
Preceded by
| Brian Salerno
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Kevin M. Sligh
|
---|
|
In office
January 1, 2013 ? May 22, 2017
|
Preceded by
| Jimmy Field
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Damon Baldone
|
---|
|
In office
May 12, 2010 ? November 22, 2010
|
Governor
| Bobby Jindal
|
---|
Preceded by
| Mitch Landrieu
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Jay Dardenne
|
---|
|
In office
January 30, 2004 ? August 8, 2012
|
Governor
| Kathleen Blanco
Bobby Jindal
|
---|
Preceded by
| Jack Caldwell
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Stephen Chustz
|
---|
|
|
Born
| Scott Anthony Angelle
(
1961-11-20
)
November 20, 1961
(age 62)
Breaux Bridge
,
Louisiana
, U.S.
|
---|
Political party
| Democratic
(before 2010)
Republican
(2010?present)
|
---|
Spouse
| Dianne Bourque
|
---|
Education
| University 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 J. 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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Early political career
[
edit
]
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.
[
citation needed
]
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.
[
citation needed
]
Earlier, he worked as a petroleum land manager in Lafayette.
[
citation needed
]
Department of Natural Resources
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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]
Moratorium Rally
[
edit
]
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
.
[13]
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.
[14]
The moratorium was lifted in October 2010, a move considered a pivotal point in Angelle's political career.
[
citation needed
]
Sinkhole controversy
[
edit
]
On August 3, 2012, it was discovered that the
Bayou Corne sinkhole
in
Assumption Parish, Louisiana
was the result of a collapsed
salt dome
operated by the Texas Brine Company.
[15]
This collapse
allowed oil and gases to escape and surface.
[16]
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.
[17]
As of October 2014, the sinkhole is still ongoing while local residents continue a legal battle with the Texas Brine Company.
[18]
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."
[19]
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."
[20]
Public Service Commissioner
[
edit
]
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.
[21]
2015 gubernatorial campaign
[
edit
]
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 fourth in the primary.
[22]
Dardenne endorsed Edwards for the November 21
runoff election
against Vitter, but Angelle refused to endorse either candidate.
[23]
State Treasurer
John Neely Kennedy
, himself a former Democrat, called upon Angelle to join him in endorsing Vitter to prove Angelle's credibility as a Republican. Angelle responded via spokesman, criticizing Kennedy's political history and calling him "the eternal president of the
RINO
club."
[24]
2016 congressional campaign
[
edit
]
On March 3, 2016, Angelle announced his candidacy for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, which is being vacated by Charles Boustany.
[25]
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
[
edit
]
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.
[26]
That year, the
Gulf of Mexico
produced $2.8 billion in lease and
royalty payments
to the federal government.
[14]
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.
[14]
[27]
[28]
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.
[14]
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.
[29]
The change was lobbied for by
Trent Lott
and
John Breaux
, and will save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
[14]
Drillers have posted $2.9 billion of the estimated $40 billion in removal costs.
[14]
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%.
[30]
In June 2017, Angelle doubled the time drillers are given to remove unproductive or damaged platforms.
[31]
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
.
[32]
In December 2017, Angelle reduced maintenance requirements on offshore platforms.
[33]
That month, Angelle proposed to relax the well-control rule, which had been implemented in response to the
Deepwater Horizon explosion
.
[14]
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.
[14]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Angelle and his wife have three daughters and two sons. He is a parishioner of Saint Bernard
Roman Catholic Church
in
Breaux Bridge
.
[
citation needed
]
Angelle served on
Sunoco
Logistics's
board of directors
for four years, for which he was paid $1 million.
[14]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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
.
- ^
"Day after resignation, Angelle announces PSC candidacy"
.
Alexandria Town Talk
. Retrieved
August 9,
2012
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Angelle bio on the Louisiana Governor's web pages
(accessed May 15, 2010). See also
Sandra Thompson
.
- ^
"Angelle resigns post as DNR secretary, Jindal liaison", August 8, 2012"
.
Baton Rouge Morning Advocate
. Retrieved
August 9,
2012
.
- ^
Hasten, Mike.
"Blanco fills secretary seats at health, DEQ and resources"
,
Monroe News-Star
, January 31, 2004, page 4A.
- ^
"Scott Angelle"
.
- ^
"Jindal appoints Scott Angelle to LSU Board of Supervisor"
. Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, August 7, 2012
. Retrieved
August 9,
2012
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
Anderson, Ed (October 27, 2010).
"Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle switches political parties"
.
The Times-Picayune
.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
. nola.com
. Retrieved
January 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Queue Begins to Form for Melancon's Open Seat"
. Roll Call. September 8, 2009
. Retrieved
October 3,
2014
.
- ^
Interim lieutenant governor starts Monday
,
Times-Picayune
, May 16, 2010, Metro Edition, p. A3 (accessed May 16, 2010).
- ^
"Angelle takes office as lt. governor,"
Daily Star
(
Hammond, Louisiana
), May 17, 2010, p. 6A
- ^
"Lift the Moratorium Now, July 26, 2010"
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"Salt-Dome Locations In The Gulf Coastal Plain, South-Central United States"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Insurance fight over cost of 37-acre sinkhole in Bayou Corne"
.
- ^
"Meet the Town That's Being Swallowed by a Sinkhole"
.
Bloomberg.com
. August 7, 2013.
- ^
"Mysterious environmental disaster unfolding in Louisiana bayou community atop gas storage caves"
.
- ^
"Vitter, Angelle lay blame for Bayou Corne"
.
- ^
"Scott Angelle pushes back on David Vitter's attacks over Bayou Corne"
.
- ^
"Louisiana election returns, November 6, 2012"
. staticresults.sos.la.gov
. Retrieved
November 10,
2012
.
- ^
"Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015"
.
Louisiana Secretary of State
. Retrieved
October 25,
2015
.
- ^
"John Bel Edwards defeats David Vitter for Louisiana governor"
.
NOLA.com
. The Times-Picayune.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"Angelle announces campaign for Congress"
.
KATC
. Archived from
the original
on March 7, 2016
. Retrieved
March 14,
2016
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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.
- ^
John Oliver - Last Week Tonight (November 11, 2018).
Drain the Swamp: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
. HBO.
- ^
Press Release (February 2, 2017).
"BOEM Withdraws Sole Liability Orders"
.
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
. Retrieved
March 25,
2018
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Press Release (June 9, 2017).
"BSEE Rule Allows Industry More Development Time"
.
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
. Retrieved
March 25,
2018
.
- ^
Caron, Christina (October 29, 2017).
"How a 672,000-Gallon Oil Spill Was Nearly Invisible"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 25,
2018
.
- ^
Press Release (December 28, 2017).
"BSEE Proposes Revisions to Production Safety Systems Regulations"
. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
. Retrieved
March 25,
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]