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September 25, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter 2024 ElectionClimate and EnvironmentIndustry Influence

The Clean Energy PAC Spending Most Of Its Money On…House Republicans

In an election year in which one presidential candidate cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the largest piece of clean energy legislation in U.S. history, and another has pledged to “tell the frackers” to “drill, baby, drill” on Day 1 and repeatedly lied about the impacts of wind turbines, you would be forgiven for assuming that a political action committee (PAC) which claims to represent the interests of the renewable energy industry would be more aligned with the former candidate’s party than the latter. 

September 03, 2024

Hannah Story Brown

Blog Post Climate and EnvironmentEthics in GovernmentRevolving Door

Political Appointees Need A Bright Line Ethics Rule: No Individual Stocks

The Revolving Door Project has previously proposed that the Biden administration pass an executive order enshrining a strongest-ever ethics commitment for executive branch political appointees. Among other things, this commitment would include a pledge not to own individual stocks while in public office. A new Inspector General report on the ethical minefield of a high-level EPA appointee who owns dozens of individual companies’ stocks demonstrates why this sort of simple, clear ethics rule is essential for increasing trust in government.

August 26, 2024 | The American Prospect

Hannah Story Brown

Op-Ed Climate and EnvironmentCorporate CrackdownDepartment of JusticeExecutive Branch

What Kamala Harris Could Bring to the Justice Department

The last time she ran for president, Kamala Harris gave a 16-minute interview with then-Mother Jones reporter Rebecca Leber about her vision for tackling the climate crisis. Harris brought evident comfort and energy to the topic, but most striking was the framing to which she returned again and again: corporate accountability.

August 23, 2024

Hannah Story Brown Ananya Kalahasti Andrea Beaty Eleanor Eagan Nika Hajikhodaverdikhan Sion Bell

Blog Post 2020 Election/TransitionAdministrative LawDepartment of Justice

The Trump Administration Made a Mockery of the Law. Why Hasn't Biden Tossed its Cases?

Donald Trump and his Department of Justice consistently made a mockery of the law throughout his four years in power. And while their laughable reasoning and indefensible positions were struck down at a historic rate, many cases were still waiting for Biden. The new administration tossed out a handful immediately but an alarming number remain, either in some form of pause or advancing forward with the Biden administration adopting Trump’s position.

July 29, 2024

Hannah Story Brown

Press Release Climate and EnvironmentEthics in GovernmentRevolving Door

RELEASE: The Gas Export Industry Is Pouring Millions Into Shaping The Narrative

Gas industry influence groups Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future and the Partnership to Address Global Emissions (PAGE Coalition) are reportedly hosting an event on Capitol Hill on Tuesday with Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). The event seeks to bring attention to a new report they’re releasing downplaying the lifecycle emissions of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the Energy Department works to update its impact analysis for permitting new gas exports. Founded and funded by LNG industry players, the groups are vocal proponents of expanding methane gas exports, aiming to frame exports as a climate solution despite their outsized greenhouse gas emissions and toxic local air pollution. 

June 12, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown Andrea Beaty

Newsletter Anti-MonopolyClimate and EnvironmentEthics in GovernmentExecutive Branch

Utilities Doubling Down On Fossil Fuels? That’s A Junk Fee!

In late May, Brian Deese, the former director of President Biden’s National Economic Council and current MIT fellow, wrote about “The Next Front in the War Against Climate Change” for The Atlantic. Deese explained that while the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives have stimulated clean energy demand “beyond my wildest hopes,” he still finds himself “lying awake at night, worried that America could still fail to meet its climate goals.” 

May 01, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter Congressional OversightCriminal JusticeDepartment of JusticeEthics in Government

Merrick Garland’s Delay May Mean Justice Denied

Last week, the Supreme Court mulled over whether the former president (the “very stable genius” who pushed a “miracle cure” for COVID later tied to 17,000 avoidable deaths) should be prescribed his own miracle cure: presidential immunity for the crimes he is charged with committing while in office. 

April 03, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter Corporate CrackdownGovernanceGovernment CapacityRight-Wing Media

Who’s Afraid of the “Deep State”?

Show me a politician rabble-rousing about “unelected bureaucrats” running the country, and I’ll show you someone who wants those bureaucrats to be serving their interests, not the country’s. Show me a company crying foul about government overreach, and I’ll show you a company trying to get away with—in some cases, literally—murder. 

March 25, 2024 | The American Prospect

Hannah Story Brown

Op-Ed Climate and EnvironmentIndustry InfluenceRevolving Door

Tim Ryan’s Natural Gas Advocacy Makes a Mockery of Public Service

If meteorologists could gauge the pressure of climate denial with their barometers, they’d surely have picked up on a remarkable atmospheric phenomenon over Houston, Texas. The annual confab of oil and gas industry executives known as CERAWeek—a safe place for fossil fuel aficionados guarded by exorbitant ticket prices and a no-entry policy for environmentalists—has just wrapped.

March 06, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter Anti-MonopolyConsumer ProtectionGovernment CapacityIRS

Throwing the Public’s Defenders Under the (Mini)Bus

By Friday, Congress needs to vote on a proposed “minibus”—a package of six out of the 12 necessary government spending bills for fiscal year 2024—to avoid a partial government shutdown. We’ve got a handy explainer of all the federal budget terms you wish you didn’t need to know, from “minibus” to “poison pill” to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which is the reason why our country’s grotesque military budget is getting a $26 billion boost up to $886 billion, while non-defense spending is getting a $4 billion cut, down to $773 billion.

While there are plenty of damning narratives to derive from the latest in government appropriations dysfunction, there is one story in particular that we’re anxious to see told by the White House and Congressional Democrats, and it’s this…

February 29, 2024

Hannah Story Brown

Press Release Climate and EnvironmentExecutive BranchRevolving DoorTreasury Department

RELEASE: Treasury Must Continue To Stand Firm Against Industry Fearmongering and Regulatory Capture in Finalizing Clean Hydrogen Guidance

In response to Thursday’s reporting from E&E News on the Energy Department pushing the Treasury Department to align its clean hydrogen tax credit guidance with industrial polluters’ wishlist, the Revolving Door Project released the following statement: