talen
<h4 class="story-subheading story-content" data-para-count="24" data-total-count="6985" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.8125rem; font-weight: 300; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; margin: 33px 0px 14px 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rolling Back Clean Power</h4><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="360" data-total-count="7345" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 75px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But some cases that The Times examined could be violating this requirement or working around it using waivers. Mr. Catanzaro was <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=A0AFA616-0F2B-4A9E-8FC1-1F33B64E4971&filingTypeID=1" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">registered for Talen Energy</a> on the Clean Power Plan in 2015, yet he has worked in recent months as a senior member of the <a href="https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/national-economic-council" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">White House’s National Economic Council</a> trying <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/28/presidential-executive-order-promoting-energy-independence-and-economi-1" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">to roll back</a> that rule, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">adopted by the Obama administration</a>.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="482" data-total-count="7827" id="story-continues-12" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 75px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mr. Catanzaro’s former clients, such as Talen and Devon Energy, have an enormous amount at stake in the regulations the White House is preparing to reverse — with his help. Talen, for example, helps operate the <a href="https://www.talenenergy.com/generation/fossil-fuels/colstrip" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Colstrip power plant</a> in Montana, the second-largest <a href="https://pse.com/aboutpse/PseNewsroom/MediaKit/064_Colstrip.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">coal-burning plant</a> west of the Mississippi. Federal officials have estimated that the plant could face a<a href="http://flatheadbeacon.com/2016/09/01/retrofit-coal-fired-colstrip-power-plant-priced-1-2-billion/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);"> $1.2 billion bill</a> as it makes updates to meet the new environmental standards, assuming it is not just closed.</p><div class="newsletter-signup auto-newsletter" id="newsletter-promo" data-newsletter-productcode="" data-newsletter-producttitle="" aria-labeledby="newsletter-promo-heading" style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 15px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-bottom: 15px; width: 300px; margin: 7px 30px 15px 75px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="visually-hidden" id="newsletter-promo-heading" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.375rem; margin: -1px; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); overflow: hidden;">Newsletter Sign Up</h2><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/us/politics/trump-appointees-potential-conflicts.html?r=0#continues-post-newsletter" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><h3 class="headline" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Morning Briefing</h3><p class="summary" style="margin: 0px 0px 14px; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Get what you need to know to start your day in the United States, Canada and the Americas, delivered to your inbox.</p><div class="messages" /><ul class="footer" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; list-style: none; padding: 6px 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif;"><li id="sample-newsletter-link" class="sample" style="font-size: 0.5625rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-left: none; display: inline; width: auto; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/sample/morning-briefing?pgtype=subscriptionspage&version=new&contentId=NN&eventName=sample&module=newsletter-sign-up" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">SEE SAMPLE</a></li> <li class="privacy" style="font-size: 0.5625rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-left: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); display: inline; width: auto; padding: 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/privacy" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">PRIVACY POLICY</a></li></ul></div><div id="#continues-post-newsletter" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="450" data-total-count="8277" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 75px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Three industry lobbyists interviewed by The Times said that they recently had confidential conversations with Mr. Catanzaro about some of the same regulatory matters on which he was lobbying the federal government. And Mr. Catanzaro gave a briefing to reporters in March at the White House in which he discussed energy topics at length, including the details related to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-review-clean-power-plan-under-president-trumps-executive-order" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">executive order Mr. Trump signed on March 28</a> to weaken the Clean Power Plan.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="538" data-total-count="8815" id="story-continues-13" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 75px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It’s certainly true that there a lot of different forces that conspire to affect the coal industry, the gas industry, a lot of industries,” Mr. Catanzaro said at a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/27/background-briefing-presidents-energy-independence-executive-order" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">White House briefing</a> last month in which he spoke with the understanding that journalists would not identify him in their reports. (The Times independently confirmed that Mr. Catanzaro made these remarks.) “Certainly government policy has a role,” he said. “So to the extent the president can have a beneficial effect on that policy, he’s going to take it.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="225" data-total-count="9040" id="story-continues-14" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 75px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mr. Catanzaro did not respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment. And White House officials would not say whether he had been granted a waiver allowing him to be involved in the same matter he handled as a lobbyist.</p>