Firm of Top Biden Advisor Anita Dunn Works for Fracked Gas Giant Dominion Energy

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An uproar ensued last week within Democratic party circles with the news that Heather Zichal, a former fossil fuel company board member, is serving as an advisor on climate change to presidential hopeful and former Vice President Joeย Biden.

Yet the fossil fuel connections of Bidenโ€™s burgeoning circle of advisors do not end with Zichal.

Anita Dunn, another Biden campaign advisor whose hiring was reported in late April, is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker, a PR and lobbying firm with strong ties to top Democratic brass, which has been promoting natural gas for the utility and pipeline company Dominionย Energy.

Bidenโ€™s โ€˜Middle Groundโ€™ onย Climate?

In an interview with Reuters, Zichal, who previously advised President Barack Obama, called for a โ€œmiddle groundโ€ stance on climate change, saying a Biden presidency will likely rejoin the Paris Agreement and protect Obama-era greenhouse gas regulations while supporting nuclear energy, natural gas, and carbon captureย technologies.

When the progressive flank of the party and activists both fired back, saying there can be no middle ground on climate change, Zichal tweeted that Reuters got it wrong: โ€œBiden would enact a bold policy to tackle climate change in a meaningful and lastingย way.โ€

Zichal left the Obama administration for a seat on the Board of Directors of Texas-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy, netting her nearly $1.1 million. As DeSmog previously reported, shortly before her appointment to Cheniereโ€™s board and while still advising Obama on energy and climate change matters, Zichal met with company executives at leastย twice.

Anita Dunn and Dominionย Energy

Bidenโ€™s team of advisors has other ties to fossil fuels through Anita Dunnโ€™s position with SKDKnickerbocker. Dunn had a short stint as President Obamaโ€™s first White House communications director.ย ย 

A recent filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that Dominion Energy, one of the nationโ€™s largest electric and gas utilities, employs SKDKnickerbocker as a contractor. In 2018 alone, Dominion payed the firm over $2.7 millionย dollars.

As DeSmog reported in 2017, SKDK worked for Dominion in the past, producing TV spots that touted the benefits of natural gas, a fossil fuel that some studies show can have an even worse climate impact thanย coal.

SKDK was paid $2.787 million by Dominion Energy
SKDK received more than $2.7 million from Dominion Energy for contract work in 2018. Credit: FERC

Dominion operates a sprawling system of gas transmission lines and LNG terminals. One of its most ambitious and controversial endeavors is the Atlantic Coast pipeline, a three-state 600-mile project that plans to bring fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale fields of Ohio and West Virginia south to Northย Carolina.

Documents filed in February this year with the South Carolina Public Service Commission reveal that most recently, SKDKnickerbocker supported Dominion in its merger with utility company SCANA. The firm produced TV ads touting the mergerโ€™s supposed benefits for energyย consumers.

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request forย comment.

Anita Dunn told DeSmog via email that she does not advise the campaign on policy and does not work on the Dominion Energy account at SKDKnickerbocker. The Reuters story, she added, โ€œisnโ€™t true. The campaign didnโ€™t confirm the policy. Heather Zichal disavowed theย story.โ€

โ€œJoe Biden has called climate change an existential threat and in the coming weeks will release a bold proposal that addresses climate change in a lasting and meaningful way,โ€ Dunnย said.

Main image: Anita Dunn, center, in yellow, as President Obama’s White House communications director in 2009. Credit: White House, publicย domain

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Itai Vardi is a sociologist and freelance journalist. He lives and works in Boston,ย Massachusetts.

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