The revolving door spins with rapidity in Washington following election season, andย Tom Hassenboehler serves as an Exhibitย A.
Hassenboehlerย served for the past two years as a lobbyist for America’s Natural Gas Alliance, the most powerful lobbying force for the unconventional oil and gas industry. Hassenboehler recently accepted a new position working for the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’sย Energy and Power Subcommittee, and will serve as Senior Counsel under the tutelage of U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the head of theย Subcommittee.
Upton is the cousin ofย Katie Upton, the wife ofย controversial Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon. McClendon, in turn, was one of the founders of ANGA. Given these ties that bind, one can safely hypothesize that Hassenboehler will continue his promotion of frackingย as a โpublicย servant.โ
Prior to working for ANGA, Hassenboehler served as a Congressional staffer for climate change denier, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
Greenpeace USA‘sย โPolluterWatchโ profile for Tom Hassenboehlerย shows that he has worked for years as a hired gun in concert with the oil and gas industry and is also a climate change denier. Highlights:
Hassenboehler played a major role in working to derail efforts by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) to pass a cap-and-trade bill in 2008. โHe joined just before Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill hit the floor and was instrumental in working to defeat it,โ Matt Dempsey, Inhofeโs spokesman,ย said.
As a counsel on the House Energy and Commerce Commitee for Rep. Joe Barton, Hassenboehler made several trips funded by the natural gas interests he now represents as aย lobbyist.
Hassenboehler wrote a letter to the EPA opposing the Waxman-Markey climate legislation and questioning the existence and science behind globalย warming.
With a track record like this, โDollarocracyโ – not representative democracy – appears more likely to ensue in theย Energy and Power Subcommittee during theย 113th session of the U.S. Congress. And given a climate crisis worsening with each passing day, this is much more than a matter of money’s clout inย politics.
Photo Credit: ShutterStock |ย prodakszyn
