ENERGYNew Report Examines Fossil Fuel Ties of Dozens of Trump Administration Hires
President Donald Trump spent the last nine months halting the growth of the American clean energy economy in its tracks. A new report found 43 fossil-fuel industry insiders among nominees and appointees to agencies charged with enforcing energy and environmental policy.
The Trump administration wasted no time in tapping individuals with ties to fossil fuel industries and right-wing think tanks funded by oil tycoons for key environmental and energy policy positions, according to a new report.
Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project, two nonprofit organizations that monitor corporate influence in government, analyzed the backgrounds of 111 nominees and appointees to executive branch positions in agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) that chart environment and energy policy. They found 43 people with ties to the fossil fuel industry and 12 people tied to right-wing think tanks, many of which receive funding from oilmen, including Texan Tim Dunn.
The report found that of 37 nominees to the Department of Energy (DOE), EPA and DOI who required Senate confirmation, 25 had ties to polluting industries, including oil and gas and mining. The report covers the fossil fuel ties of Cabinet members like Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as well as lesser-known nominees like Audrey Robertson, a former fracking executive nominated to lead the DOE’s efficiency and renewable energy office.
“The officials running Trump’s second administration, as well as Trump himself, have been far swifter and more aggressive in enacting favors for allies in the fossil fuel and mining industries,” wrote report authors Alan Zibel of Public Citizen and Toni Aguilar Rosenthal of the Revolving Door Project. “They have also set in motion an avalanche of attacks on Trump’s perceived enemies and the industries he disfavors, including renewable energy.”
In an emailed statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that “President Trump was elected with an overwhelming mandate to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ and unleash America’s energy potential.”
“It’s totally logical that his energy nominees would align with the agenda the President was elected to implement and have a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter,” Kelly said.
The impact of the fossil fuel industry’s influence within the current administration, and Trump’s existing ideological bent toward promoting fossil fuel interests, has been undeniable.
The signature legislation of the president’s second term, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, increased lease sales for oil and gas drilling and offered up millions of acres of federal land for mining, while significantly accelerating the phaseout of tax credits for wind and solar projects.
