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May 17, 2022
One Weird Trick To Prevent the TVA From Building New Gas Plants
The Tennessee Valley Authority, an independent agency of the federal government which acts as a public utility for over 10 million residents in and around Tennessee, announced in March that it would replace two aging coal-fired power plants with gas-powered plants. As the nation’s largest public utility company, the move goes against Biden’s goal to achieve a clean energy grid by 2035. TVA could be leading the charge for renewables, but its fossil fuel CEO Jeff Lyash, who comes out of fossil fuels, is instead choosing to lock in polluting gas for decades. This does not have to be the case.

May 17, 2022
Don't Give Gina McCarthy's Job To Ernest Moniz
We are firmly on track toward an unlivable world. And a man whose entire career is marked by hubris and greed, who touts the false benefits of methane gas and makes millions from fossil fuel firms and their allies, is being raised as a candidate for White House National Climate Advisor. To put our position plainly, “No.”

May 17, 2022
Here's What Biden Can Do Without Congress
The good news is that the executive branch could do a LOT.

May 05, 2022
Dunn's Latest White House Spin Makes A Mockery Of Ethics Law
The news today that Anita Dunn will return to the White House as a senior advisor makes clear that her involvement with this administration was never credibly temporary.

April 25, 2022
What You Need To Know About The Contenders For Biden’s Next Chief Of Staff
Nearly halfway through President Biden’s second year in office, with midterms on the horizon and senior staff either burning out or eager to sell out, “Transition 2.0” — the rapid departure of said senior staff with an influx of new personnel — is growing closer. One position we’re keeping a close eye on is Biden’s next Chief of Staff. Currently filled by Ron Klain, this is Biden’s de facto power broker. He helps the president make decisions and acts as a gatekeeper for the many, MANY forces, good and bad, who’d like to influence the president.

April 25, 2022 | The New Republic
How Biden Can Halt the U.S. Postal Service’s Gas-Guzzling Plan
Just days after his inauguration, President Biden promised to use the federal government’s procurement authority to achieve a zero-emission fleet of government vehicles. This spring, however, that’s led to a standoff with the United States Postal Service—an independent agency overseen by a Trump-aligned postmaster general who wants to replace 225,000 out-of-date mail delivery trucks with fresh gas-guzzlers, to the tune of $11.3 billion.

April 19, 2022
How The Department Of Commerce Can Combat Economic Malaise
Responsible for creating “conditions for economic growth and opportunity,” the full powers of the DOC must be leveraged to combat economic malaise. Since the modern department was established in 1913, the DOC’s powers have generally been neglected and poorly understood. That’s in part reflective of the DOC’s byzantine structure: it’s a seeming grab-bag of agencies that either don’t fit in neatly with any other department, or are located within the DOC as a result of 20th century political knife-fights.

April 08, 2022
The Stakes Are High For The EPA’s Newly Appointed Chemical Review Director
Denise Keehner is expected to start on Monday as the Environmental Protection Agency’s new director of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Bloomberg Law reported last week. Keehner is a former EPA official currently employed by Maryland’s Department of the Environment.

April 07, 2022
How Biden’s HUD Can Tackle The Housing Crisis
Even without Congress, advocates say there’s a lot that HUD can do to protect tenants and promote affordable housing.

March 29, 2022
Biden Gave Most Corporate Crimes A Pass This Winter, New Analysis Shows
The Biden administration pursued at least 24 prosecutions and rulemakings to crack down on white-collar crime this winter, but took no action against at least 48 crimes or abuses, a new data set from the Revolving Door Project shows

March 28, 2022
The DOJ Should Follow Its Own Guidance on FOIA Administration
The celebration of Sunshine Week earlier this month underscored the importance of the continued effort to ensure effective administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its central role for open democracy. Passed by Congress in 1966, FOIA allows citizens to request unpublished records and information from the federal government. Watchdog organizations have long relied on records obtained from FOIA requests to hold the government accountable to public interests. But, the system comes with a plethora of flaws that prevents adequate timeliness and transparency. Endless backlogs, increased usage of exemptions, partially redacted documents, and outright denials leave much to be desired in the administration of FOIA today.

March 28, 2022
Dylan Gyauch-Lewis Mekedas Belayneh
Anti-MonopolyCongressional OversightCorporate CrackdownExecutive BranchIndependent Agencies
Shipping Cartels Are Spiraling Out Of Control. The Agency Set To Regulate Them Doesn’t See The Problem.
The Federal Maritime Commission’s leaders have no interest in breaking up the shipping conglomerates’ price-gouging which Biden promised the nation.

March 21, 2022
This Federally Owned Public Utility Company Is Run by a Former Fossil Fuel Executive Who Makes $10 Million
The Tennessee Valley Authority could be leading the country toward renewables. Instead, it gets huge chunks of its power generation from coal and methane.

March 15, 2022 | The American Prospect
ClimateCorporate CrackdownDepartment of JusticeEthics in GovernmentExecutive BranchIndependent Agencies
Where the Government’s Environmental Lawyers Stand
Joe Biden pledged that as president he would hold polluters accountable. But in 2021, the number of criminal cases against polluters referred to the Justice Department dropped even lower than the year before. At best, DOJ officials have set their sights on bringing environmental crime enforcement back up to Obama-era levels—but not exceeding them. That’s a decidedly muted goal; environmental crimes enforcement was higher under George W. Bush than Obama, and has always been underfunded.

March 11, 2022
Hannah Story Brown Dylan Gyauch-Lewis
ClimateExecutive BranchFinancial RegulationIndependent AgenciesRevolving Door
Carbon Offset Legitimization Would Undermine Climate Progress, New Report Argues
The Revolving Door Project released a new “Industry Agenda” report today breaking down the systemic flaws and increasing relevance of the carbon offset industry as the favored greenwashing strategy for big industries and high-polluting nations. The report highlights the policies and executive branch agencies of interest to players in both voluntary and compliance carbon markets in the United States.