From MMS to BOE to BOEMRE

The former Minerals Management Service is having some acronym issues. Al Kamen reports in the Washington Post that last week Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a formal order rechristening the reorganized agency as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement. The agency, perhaps recognizing that the new moniker was a bit of a mouthful, told folks it was OK to refer to it as "BOE."

Then came a rather sudden reversal. On Friday, Kamen writes, James G. Anderson, the new organization's acting associate director for administration and budget, told members of its executive committee in an e-mail that BOE was out, and "until further notice, the abbreviation BOEMRE should be used."

Why the switch? Here's a guess: Maybe agency leaders feared that the shortened acronym would appear to emphasize only the "Bureau of Ocean Energy" part of the name, which wouldn't exactly square with President Obama's admonition that it be a "watchdog," not a "partner" with the energy industry.

In any case, I applaud the Agency Formerly Known as MMS/BOE/BOEMRE for striking a blow for acronym accuracy. I guess I'm just a stickler, but it bugs me when agencies make up acronyms that don't exactly match their names. Yes, I'm talking about you, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).