I knew it!

Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.
The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

What's interesting here is that the White House denied that this happened. If you look at the latest ads in various magazines from Chevron and BP ("Beyond Patroleum", right?) they chatter on about renewable energry and "working towards the future". If that's the case and they were talking with Cheney about renewable energy, then more power to them. They're the ones who could be the most influential and have infrustructures in place for energy distribution. Somehow, though, I doubt that they were talking about renewable energy with Mr. Cheney, especially since the white house has been denying that the meeting took place. They could always say that the meetings were closed door and they had no obligation to say with whom they met. They could also say that they didn't mention meeting with the Oil Execs because they knew that it would be construed in this fashion.
They can say a lot of things...