Climate and Environment

January 08, 2025 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter

2024 Election/TransitionClimate and EnvironmentCorporate Crackdown

Who Bought The Presidency?

With less than two weeks until Trump’s inauguration, the Senate confirmation process for his roster of loyalists will be underway before we know it. The confirmation hearings for Trump’s energy picks are already set, with hearings for Interior nominee Doug Burgum, Energy nominee Chris Wright, and EPA nominee Lee Zeldin scheduled for January 14, January 15, and Wednesday or Thursday of next week respectively. This newsletter series will highlight the ties between Trump’s personnel picks and the exploitative industries and their billionaire CEOs who will be enriched by their appointments.

December 11, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter 2024 Election/TransitionClimate and EnvironmentDoug BurgumInterior

Doug Burgum and the Myth of the “Normal” Trump Nominee

Trump has spent the month since the election firing off a rapid torrent of Cabinet picks. His nominees generally fall into two types: obviously whacko (see Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, RFK Jr.) and superficially normal (think Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum, Pam Bondi). While the headline-grabbing scandals and general trumpery of the first group easily draw scorn, it’s important that we not grade the second group on a credulous curve, overlooking the economic interests behind their soothingly conventional manner.

October 29, 2024

Hannah Story Brown Kenny Stancil

Report Climate and EnvironmentIndustry InfluenceRevolving Door

Report: Gas Industry Ramps Up Deceptive Effort to Influence Democrats

A group funded by fracking firms and pipeline companies is ramping up its efforts to cozy up to key Democratic constituencies in service of a pro-polluter agenda, including a bipartisan bill packed with fossil-fuel giveaways that could be considered in Congress in the coming weeks, according to a new report released today by the Revolving Door Project and Public Citizen.

October 09, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

KJ Boyle

Newsletter

Climate and EnvironmentCorporate CrackdownFEMAHousingIndependent Agencies

RDP Work Round-Up: Pre-Election Edition

It’s time for another edition of an RDP Work Round-up to keep our loyal newsletter readers up-to-date with our blog posts. With the election less than a month away, now is the perfect time to look back at the polls, punditry, and policy debates that have dominated our news feeds lately. But first, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the devastating hurricanes affecting the south east. 

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 23, 2024 | Common Dreams

KJ Boyle

Op-Ed Climate and EnvironmentCongressional Oversight

Senate Democrats Must Flex their Oversight Powers against the Oil Industry

With a divided Congress and an election fast approaching, congressional Democrats have little opportunity to enact any landmark legislation, but they need not sit on their hands. Congressional committees have the power to conduct hearings, investigations, and issue subpoenas. As the majority party in the Senate, Democrats should be using this authority to aggressively critique corporations that harm the public’s health and pocketbooks.