{"id":5126,"date":"2020-08-25T04:58:34","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T04:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euromenaenergy.com\/?p=5126"},"modified":"2020-08-25T04:58:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T04:58:34","slug":"climate-hawks-urge-biden-to-shun-obama-era-energy-moderates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/?p=5126","title":{"rendered":"Climate Hawks Urge Biden to Shun Obama-Era Energy Moderates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate-change activists are pressuring Joe Biden to distance himself from former Obama administration advisers they view as either too moderate or too cozy with the fossil-fuel industry, a sign of disunity on the eve of the Democratic convention.<\/p>\n

Groups such as\u00a0Data for Progress\u00a0and the Revolving Door Project are building a case against some people advising the Democratic presidential nominee, such as former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and President Barack Obama\u2019s environment aide Heather Zichal. Both have served on the boards of companies linked to fossil fuels since leaving government.<\/p>\n

The effort reflects simmering tension between the party\u2019s moderate nominee and progressives whose votes he needs to win. Polls show a lack of enthusiasm for Biden among young voters, something that could be exacerbated by open divisions within the environmental movement. But if climate activists succeed in pulling him to the left, it could cost him mainstream support.<\/p>\n

The activists are collecting information on the advisers and formulating a strategy that could include a letter-writing campaign and petitions, similar to what has been employed to pressure Biden to sever ties with Obama\u2019s one-time National Economic Council Director Larry Summers. Summers is a contributor to Bloomberg Television.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s record on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions was widely regarded as ambitious at the time. But activists say now there\u2019s no time left for anything other than a no-holds barred approach.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you want to maximize the effectiveness of a Biden administration on climate you need climate warriors,\u201d said Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the Revolving Door Project, which is assembling critical dossiers on the Biden advisers. \u201cIf you are going to take the climate crisis seriously you can\u2019t be seeking a middle-road solution.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Not everyone\u2019s on board with the activists\u2019 approach, with the election quickly approaching. Biden is close to naming a running mate as the party prepares for a trimmed down, four-day nominating convention in Milwaukee set to begin Aug. 17.<\/p>\n

Bigger Objective<\/h3>\n

Some environmentalists prefer to focus on helping Biden defeat President Donald Trump and stop his rollback of environmental regulations. Trump, who is withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate treaty, has repeatedly called climate change a \u201choax.\u201d By contrast, Biden\u2019s $2 trillion plan for combating climate change won robust praise last month from across the spectrum of environmental advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

Others worry that a climate purity test means muzzling some of the nation\u2019s top energy experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK right now that he\u2019s relying on those people, because he\u2019s got to focus on the primary objective — which is stopping the catastrophe we are in right now,\u201d said Brett Hartl, chief political strategist for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.<\/p>\n

But critics say Biden\u2019s reliance on a stable of former Obama energy officials is already limiting the Democratic presidential candidate\u2019s climate ambition.<\/p>\n

Read More: Biden\u00a0Feels<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0Heat From Left to Drop Larry Summers as an Adviser<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who built the system and are profiting from it are not going to want to tear it down,\u201d said Collin Rees, a senior campaigner with Oil Change U.S., an environmental group that advocates shifting away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

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Other aides to Obama who have drawn the ire of climate activists include one-time White House\u00a0energy adviser Jason Bordoff, State Department official Amos Hochstein and economic adviser Brian Deese.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

None of the targeted officials are employed by the Biden campaign, though Zichal, Bordoff and Moniz have informally advised it, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. And the campaign is widely consulting outsiders; senior campaign officials said they conferred with scientists and leaders of the environmental justice movement in developing Biden\u2019s $2 trillion climate plan.<\/p>\n

The activists point to signs of caution, including language in a Biden-Sanders unity task force report that rules out public financing of overseas coal projects but leaves the door open for supporting natural gas ventures.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s Record<\/h3>\n

Some environmental activists are advancing an\u00a0array of choices\u00a0deemed acceptable as possible cabinet members — from Washington Governor Jay Inslee for Interior secretary to\u00a0California Air Resources\u00a0Board Chair Mary Nichols as\u00a0Environmental Protection Agency\u00a0administrator.<\/p>\n

Biden is naturally relying on advice from some of Obama\u2019s old hands, having worked with many of the same advisers during his eight years as vice president, Hartl said.<\/p>\n

Activists say they are most concerned by what Biden\u2019s team has done in recent years — not the policies they pushed as part of the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are gearing up,\u201d said RL Miller, chair of\u00a0California Democratic Party\u2019s environmental caucus and a member-elect to the\u00a0Democratic National Committee. \u201cWe will be exposing the flaws in these people\u2019s records as climate peacocks and we will be making it toxic for Joe Biden to be taking advice on matters of energy from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

LNG Exports<\/h3>\n

Zichal has served on the board of\u00a0Cheniere Energy Inc., which became the first major U.S. exporter of shale gas in 2016, and has stressed the need to find a \u201cmiddle ground\u201d environmental policy. She also continues to promote marine protections and sustainability as head of the\u00a0Blue Prosperity Coalition, has discouraged new offshore drilling off South Africa and previously was vice president of corporate engagement for the\u00a0Nature Conservancy. Zichal declined to comment.<\/p>\n

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Bordoff has served on the National Petroleum Council, an Energy Department advisory group that includes oil company executives. He also founded a\u00a0Columbia University\u00a0energy policy center affiliated with the School of International Public Affairs Center. It\u00a0draws funding\u00a0from oil companies, climate-focused groups and other organizations, including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael R. Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n