The revolving door [1] spins with rapidity in Washington following election season, and Tom Hassenboehler [2] serves as an Exhibit A.
Hassenboehler served for the past two years as a lobbyist [3] for America's Natural Gas Alliance [4], 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's Energy and Power Subcommittee [5], and will serve as Senior Counsel under the tutelage of U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) [6], the head of the Subcommittee.
Upton is the cousin [7] of Katie Upton [8], the wife of controversial [9] Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon [10]. McClendon, in turn, was one of the founders [11] of ANGA. Given these ties that bind, one can safely hypothesize that Hassenboehler will continue his promotion of fracking [12] as a "public servant."
Prior to working for ANGA, Hassenboehler served as a Congressional staffer [2] for climate change denier, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) [13].
Greenpeace USA's "PolluterWatch" profile for Tom Hassenboehler [2] 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 [2]:
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. “He joined just before Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill hit the floor and was instrumental in working to defeat it,” Matt Dempsey, Inhofe’s spokesman, 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 a lobbyist.
Hassenboehler wrote a letter to the EPA opposing the Waxman-Markey climate legislation and questioning the existence and science behind global warming.
With a track record like this, "Dollarocracy [14]" - not representative democracy - appears more likely to ensue in the Energy and Power Subcommittee during the 113th session of the U.S. Congress. And given a climate crisis worsening with each passing day [15], this is much more than a matter of money's clout in politics.
Photo Credit: ShutterStock [16] | prodakszyn [17]