Koch-Funded Former Lobbyist Replaces Koch Lobbyist on Trump’s Energy Transition Team

onNov 28, 2016 @ 22:45 PST

Thomas Pyle, President of the Koch-funded Institute for Energy Research and its advocacy arm, the American Energy Alliance, has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the transition team for the Department of Energy. E&E News reported last Monday that Pyle would replace Mike McKenna, who had to step down from the transition team because of the Trump team’s crackdown on registered lobbyists.

McKenna, President of MWR Strategies, currently lobbies for a number of energy industry companies , including a contract with Koch Industries that dates back to 2008.

Michael Catanzaro also stepped down from the DOE landing team. Catanzaro is currently a registered lobbyist for Koch Industries. (More on Catanzaro’s lobbying history and deep oil ties on DeSmog.)

As Lee Fang wrote in The Intercept,

The Koch Industries lobbyist who was overseeing transition efforts on energy and the environment will be replaced — by a former Koch Industries lobbyist who leads a think tank funded by Koch Industries.

The Trump transition team publicized some ethics standards that essentially demand that anyone on the team deregister as a lobbyist and promise not to lobby for five years. But former lobbyists (even those registered as lobbyists at the time of assignment to the transition team) are totally fine, as is anyone working for a lobbying firm without formal registrations.

Fang described Catanzaro’s and Pyle’s trip through the revolving door to the DOE‘s transition team.

Michael Catanzaro, who was set to oversee the transition at the Department of Energy, is a registered lobbyist for fossil fuel giant Koch Industries.

Catanzaro’s departure on Friday made way for Thomas Pyle as his replacement.

Pyle is currently the president of the Institute for Energy Research, a think tank founded directly by Charles Koch, the chief executive of Koch Industries, and also funded by Koch-backed nonprofits. IER broadly supports more drilling and mining of fossil fuels, and regularly criticizes climate change scientists for daring to call for controls on pollution. Before joining IER, Pyle worked as a registered lobbyist for Koch Industries and served as the Koch Industries Director of Federal Affairs, a lobbying job, from 2001 through 2005.

McKenna, Catanzaro, and Pyle aren’t the only Koch affiliates to make their way into Trump’s transition efforts, and we’ll be looking at other Koch ties to the Trump administration in coming weeks.

Trump himself offered a glimpse at his energy policy priorities in a YouTube video published Monday that briefly outlined his plan for his first 100 days in office.

“I will cancel job killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of high-paying jobs,” Trump said. “That’s what we want. That’s what we’ve been waiting for.” The President-elect didn’t speak to any particular Department of Energy efforts, nor did he discuss how his administration would address the two energy sectors that are fastest growing in terms of both employment and electric generating capacity—solar and wind.

Crossposted from KochVsClean.com

Image: Screenshot from IERDC on YouTube.

By Ben Jervey

Ben Jervey is a Senior Fellow for DeSmog and directs the KochvsClean.com project. He is a freelance writer, editor, and researcher, specializing in climate change and energy systems and policy. Ben is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School. He was the original Environment Editor for GOOD Magazine, and wrote a longstanding weekly column titled “The New Ideal: Building the clean energy economy of the 21st Century and avoiding the worst fates of climate change.” He has also contributed regularly to National Geographic News, Grist, and OnEarth Magazine. He has published three books—on eco-friendly living in New York City, an Energy 101 primer, and, most recently, “The Electric Battery: Charging Forward to a Low Carbon Future.” He graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies from Middlebury College, and earned a Master’s in Energy Regulation and Law at Vermont Law School. A bicycle enthusiast, Ben has ridden across the United States and through much of Europe.

us/US Oil Executives Flock to COP30

ByPhoebe Cooke

onNov 14, 2025 @ 07:04 PST

Their access to the summit is proof that Big Oil still holds "a dangerous sway" over the climate process, campaigners say.

Series: 2025 COP30 Climate Summit

Series: COP30 Coverage

‘Inviting the Fox Into the Henhouse’: Canada Delegation to COP30 Loaded with Fossil Fuel Representatives

ByTaylor Noakes

onNov 13, 2025 @ 21:01 PST

Delegation’s composition consistent with new KBPO report revealing this year’s U.N. climate talks have the largest number of fossil fuel lobbyists to date.