williams, tim
==
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/01/25/trump-state-policy-network-summit-dominion-bradley-foundation-climate-denial
Last December groups promoting climate change denial sponsored a two-day conference which brought together energy executives and lobbyists with Trump administration officials.
According to the conference’s agenda, which DeSmog has obtained exclusively, the participating energy and utility companies included Dominion Energy, General Electric, and Georgia Power. Officials from the Departments of Energy and the Interior were among the panelists.
The event, billed as a “State Energy Policy Summit,” was organized by the Thomas Jefferson Institute,* a member of the State Policy Network (SPN), a powerful group of think tanks pushing states to adopt conservative policies. Both the SPN and its ally the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are funded by an array of corporations, right-wing groups, and wealthy conservative donors that include brothers Charles and David Koch.
The conference, which took place from December 7-8, 2017 in Washington, D.C., was also sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Instituteand The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation — two groups that promote climate change denial — and the Consumer Energy Alliance, an advocacy group working on behalf of the oil and gas industry.
..doc]
Lobbying Opportunities
The conference placed in one room energy interests and the government representatives and agencies which they are currently lobbying.
The first panel dealt with offshore energy development. It featured speakers from the National Ocean Industries Association, International Association of Geophysical Contractors, and National Ocean Policy Coalition — three trade groups advancing the interests of the offshore and energy exploration industries. A fourth member of the panel was Tim Williams, deputy director of the office of external affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Williams, a former Republican operative who worked on the Trump campaign, was appointed to his position by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
Keynote addresses by U.S. Representatives David Rouzer (R-NC) andBruce Westerman (R-AR) followed the panel. Over his brief Congressional career, Westerman has received a total of $114,450 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, one of the top industries throwing support behind him. Rouzer, between 2011 and 2018, has netted $91,490 from the industry
Congressional records indicate that the energy participants on the offshore panel are presently lobbying both the Interior Department and Congress. National Ocean Industries Association is lobbying the Interior Department on various matters concerning offshore energy, including the Outer Continental Shelf.
Similarly, the International Association of Geophysical Contractors is lobbying the Interior Department and the House of Representatives on “[I]ssues impacting offshore seismic activities.” It is also lobbying Congress on H.R. 3131, or the SEA Act (Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act), which Representative Rouzer has co-sponsored. The bill seeks to ease environmental approval processes for offshore exploration in ways that amend current protections for endangered marine mammal habitats.
HBW Resources, the lobbying firm behind the Consumer Energy Alliance, one of the conference’s sponsors, is currently lobbying the House of Representatives on behalf of the National Ocean Policy Coalition.