Study Finds Over 40 White House Officials Have Close Links to Gas Industry

Per a new analysis, dozens of people with experience in the energy sector have been placed within the current leadership, including over 40 who formerly been employed directly for oil companies.

Context of the Report

The study analyzed the backgrounds of nominees and personnel positioned in the administration and multiple federal offices overseeing climate matters. Those encompass important bodies including the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the energy office.

Larger Policy Climate

This report comes amid continuing efforts to roll back climate policies and alternative energy incentives. As an example, recent legislation have opened large areas of government territory for extraction and reduced funding for sustainable sources.

With the flood of bad things that have occurred on the ecological arena... it’s important to remind the people that these aren’t just steps from the nebulous, ginormous thing that is the administration writ large, commented a author engaged in the study. They are often individual individuals coming from particular wealthy sectors that are carrying out this harmful anti-regulatory program.

Significant Findings

Authors discovered 111 personnel whom they deemed as energy sector veterans and clean energy critics. This includes 43 people who were directly working by coal firms. Included in them are prominent senior officials including the energy secretary, who formerly acted as top executive of a hydraulic fracturing corporation.

The list furthermore contains lower-profile government staff. For instance, the division handling clean technology is managed by a previous gas leader. In the same vein, a top energy consultant in the White House has held senior jobs at prominent petroleum corporations.

Further Ties

An additional 12 appointees have ties to fossil fuel-funded rightwing policy organizations. These encompass previous staff and researchers of organizations that have vigorously fought alternative sources and advocated the expansion of conventional sources.

A total of 29 further officials are former corporate executives from heavy industry fields whose activities are directly linked to oil and gas. Additional individuals have connections with power providers that market fossil fuels or government officials who have supported pro-coal initiatives.

Agency Concentration

Researchers identified that 32 personnel at the Department of the Interior alone have links to extractive sectors, making it the highest compromised national agency. This includes the head of the department, who has long accepted energy funding and functioned as a bridge between energy industry donors and the government.

Political Finance

Fossil fuel donors contributed sizable money to the campaign operation and ceremony. After entering the White House, the government has not only established industry-friendly rules but also crafted benefits and exemptions that benefit the field.

Experience Concerns

In addition to industry-linked nominees, the researchers identified multiple government leaders who were nominated to key jobs with scant or no subject matter knowledge.

Those individuals may not be connected to oil and gas so closely, but their unfamiliarity is concerning, stated one researcher. It is reasonable to think they will be compliant, or susceptible individuals, for the oil industry’s plans.

For instance, the appointee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s division of chief legal officer has limited litigation background, having not ever handled a case to completion, nor participated in a sworn statement, and never presented a legal request.

In an additional case, a White House aide focusing on regulatory issues moved to the job after working in roles separate to energy, with no apparent direct sector or regulatory experience.

Administration Statement

One spokesperson for the executive branch dismissed the findings, commenting that the administration’s officials are extremely competent to deliver on the people’s mandate to expand national energy output.

Previous and Current Context

The administration enacted a substantial array of anti-environmental measures during its initial term. In its present period, equipped with pro-business plans, it has overseen a much wider and stricter dismantling on ecological policies and renewable energy.

There’s no shame, said one analyst. They are willing and willing to go out there and promote the fact that they are doing assistance for the oil and gas industry, extractive field, the energy business.