Caught On Tape: Oil Execs Laugh Over ‘Unprecedented Access’ To Trump

By
Carissa House-Dunphy
-
0
1555

It’s fun to laugh at Trump’s idiotic tweets on climate change, but no one should mistakenly think that the science hasn’t been explained to him. He knows that climate change is real and that humans are contributing to it, he just doesn’t care and he hopes his rabid fanbase is too stupid to know anything about science. So far, he’s been right.

Oil executives and their lobbyists know, too. In 2017, members of the Independent Petroleum Association of America gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in Southern California to laugh at the ignorance of those who voted for Trump and brag that they had been given “unprecedented access” to the president, as well as a voice on environmental policies.

Reveal, who released an audio recording that caught oil executives on tape, reports that:

‘Just five months into the Trump era, the energy developers who make up the Independent Petroleum Association of America had already watched the new president order a sweeping overhaul of environmental regulations that were cutting into their bottom lines — rules concerning smog, fracking and endangered species protection.’

David Bernhardt, a former lawyer for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, was appointed to the number two spot at the Department of the Interior. Shortly after, the organization’s political director, Dan Naatz, bragged at that meeting that Bernhardt’s appointment had allowed them direct access to the White House.

‘We know him very well, and we have direct access to him, have conversations with him about issues ranging from federal land access to endangered species, to a lot of issues.’

Trump’s whole “drain the swamp” promise turned out to be nothing more than empty words, as so many of his other campaign promises did. Lobbyists and the billionaires they represent are still buying their way into government and policy decisions, just as Trump once bragged that he had done.

‘The recording gives a rare look behind the curtain of an influential oil industry lobbying group that spends more than $1 million per year to push its agenda in Congress and federal regulatory agencies. The previous eight years had been dispiriting for the industry: As IPAA vice president Jeff Eshelman told the group, it had seemed as though the Obama administration and environmental groups had put together “their target list of everything that they wanted done to shut down the oil and gas industry.” But now, the oil executives were almost giddy at the prospect of high-level executive branch access of the sort they hadn’t enjoyed since Dick Cheney, a fellow oilman, was vice president.’

The organization’s CEO, Barry Russell, boasted on tape about his relationship with then-EPA director Scott Pruitt.

‘It’s really a new thing for us. For example, next week I’m invited to the White House to talk about tax code. Last week we were talking to Secretary Pruitt, and in about two weeks we have a meeting with Secretary Zinke. So we have unprecedented access to people that are in these positions who are trying to help us, which is great.’

For the money that they spend, the lobbyists are rewarded handsomely. A million dollars per year buys them a menu from which to pick and choose what policies they’d like to influence.

‘At the meeting, the association’s leaders distributed a private “regulatory update” memothat detailed environmental laws and rules that it hoped to blunt or overturn. The group ultimately got its way on four of the five high-profile issues that topped its wish list.’

Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license



No related posts.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR