Chuck Hagel's ties to Chevron Corp. haven't caused a stir as the former senator makes his bid to become the next Defense secretary.

The Nebraska Republican has sat on Chevron's board since 2010. In 2011, he received $301,199 as compensation, including $184,000 in stock. If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, he will have to leave the position.

He hasn't received flak for the position mostly because of the nature of Chevron's federal contracts. Chevron, a major federal contractor, made more than $501 million in sales to the government during fiscal 2012. Most of that came from selling fuel to the Pentagon.

"The decisions on fuel procurement are fairly low on the radar screen of a defense secretary," said Tyson Slocum, head of the watchdog group Public Citizen's energy program. "I don't think that would be as alarming as, say, a board membership at Lockheed Martin or a contractor that goes to the core of strategic decisionmaking at the Pentagon."

Environmentalists have been unwilling to speak against President Obama's controversial choice, planning to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm sure it will raise some eyebrows," said Ralph Cavanagh, head of the Natural Resources Defense Council energy program. "But I'm not threatened by a secretary of Defense who understands the oil industry. What I bet it will give Chuck Hagel is a good sense of the energy security problem of our dependence on oil."

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) also sat on Chevron's board (David Barker, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 15). -- JE