Analysis Finds Over 40 Trump Administration Nominees Hold Direct Ties to Oil Companies

Per a recent examination, scores of individuals having histories in the fossil fuel sector have been positioned within the existing administration, comprising over 40 who formerly been employed directly for gas companies.

Overview of the Report

This analysis examined the backgrounds of candidates and personnel positioned in the administration and eight national departments handling energy regulation. These include major entities like the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the Energy Department.

Wider Administrative Environment

This report comes while persistent efforts to weaken energy regulations and alternative energy supports. For instance, new bills have unlocked large areas of federal property for extraction and eliminated funding for renewable sources.

Amid the firehose of negative things that have happened on the climate side... it’s important to educate the public that these aren’t just actions from the amorphous, ginormous thing that is the government broadly, said a analyst engaged in the analysis. It is often individual actors with ties to particular moneyed sectors that are implementing this disastrous deregulatory program.

Key Findings

Researchers found 111 employees whom they classified as industry insiders and clean energy critics. That encompasses 43 individuals who were previously serving by coal companies. Among them are prominent top executives like the top energy official, who previously served as chief executive of a oil extraction firm.

The roster furthermore includes less prominent government members. For instance, the office overseeing clean technology is led by a former oil leader. Similarly, a senior policy counsel in the White House has served in top-level jobs at major oil firms.

Other Links

An additional 12 personnel were found to have connections to energy-financed rightwing thinktanks. Those include ex- employees and researchers of groups that have vigorously resisted clean power and championed the use of fossil fuels.

A total of 29 other officials are former business executives from heavy industry fields whose operations are intimately connected to fossil fuels. Further personnel have associations with power firms that market conventional power or public representatives who have supported pro-oil agendas.

Departmental Concentration

Researchers discovered that 32 employees at the interior agency by themselves have ties to fossil fuel energy, making it the highest influenced federal department. This features the leader of the department, who has consistently taken energy donations and functioned as a bridge between fossil fuel business contributors and the administration.

Campaign Funding

Energy contributors provided sizable money to the presidential effort and inauguration. Since assuming power, the leadership has not only implemented industry-friendly rules but also created tax breaks and tariff carveouts that benefit the field.

Experience Issues

In addition to energy-connected appointees, the researchers identified several White House leaders who were nominated to powerful positions with little or no relevant experience.

These people may not be connected to fossil fuels so directly, but their lack of expertise is dangerous, remarked one researcher. It’s plausible to think they will be pushovers, or susceptible individuals, for the fossil fuel objectives.

For instance, the appointee to lead the EPA’s office of general counsel has minimal litigation history, having not ever tried a legal matter to verdict, nor taken a sworn statement, and not filed a court petition.

In an additional example, a executive advisor focusing on energy policy arrived to the job after being employed in jobs separate to the industry, with no clear direct energy industry or policy background.

Administration Reaction

A representative for the administration dismissed the analysis, stating that the leadership’s personnel are extremely qualified to deliver on the people’s mandate to increase national resource production.

Historical and Present Context

This government enacted a substantial array of pro-industry steps during its previous tenure. In its current period, backed with conservative blueprints, it has spearheaded a far broader and stricter dismantling on environmental policies and renewable energy.

There is no shame, stated one researcher. The administration is willing and ready to go out there and tout the fact that they are doing favors for the energy sector, resource field, the mining industry.