(2 of 2)
Offshore Oil Leasing. Watt offered practically the entire outer continental shelf to oil-company bidders. Instead of explaining that only a fraction of the area offered would be drilled, he bragged about leasing "a billion acres" of U.S. coastal waters. Even the industry beneficiaries found the Secretary dangerously gung-ho. Said Standard Oil Co. of California Chairman George Keller: "Jim Watt has done more to harm our industry than any other Government official in recent history. You couldn't carry on a conversation with him without getting aggravated." Watt would not even carry on a conversation with some environmental groups, whom he dismissed as "left-wingers." Thus, while several of his policy changes were sensible—he reformed the chaotic oil-lease payment system, and faced up to the fact that the park system cannot simply expand forever—Watt's crusading pugnaciousness often obscured the merits and demerits of the issues.