The Unspoken Revolving Door

This Week's Trend In Brief:

• At the onset of his administration, we noted President Biden was pulling from the ranks of environmental activists to staff his government, even as those same activists insisted appointees be free of industry ties the activists insisted posed conflicts of interest and contributed to a pervasive revolving door between policymaking and the influence industry.
   

• Now, appointees like CEQ’s Cecilia Martinez and David Kieve are landing back with green groups, in exactly the type of  “revolving door” arrangement activists decried.
   

• Former White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy’s recent departure for Michael Bloomberg-funded America is All In is the most recent example of this phenomena – McCarthy worked at EPA before joining NRDC before joining the Biden Administration.
   

• Similarly, many current administration officials come from the ranks of environmental activist groups, including EPA Administrator Michael Regan, whose career began at EPA before he joined the Environmental Defense Fund prior to his return to EPA, and CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory, who worked at the Southern Environmental Law Center between previous government stints.
   

• While climate activists have long criticized industry for its purported “revolving door” relationship with government, the climate activists are following suit – just without the same level of scrutiny or concern from the media or watchdogs, even as it ensures the activists have just as much, if not more, access to policymakers than industry does.

Digging Deeper:

At the onset of the Biden Administration, we observed that President Biden was pulling from the ranks of environmental advocacy groups to staff his administration, even as those activists demanded his administration be free of ties to industry. As we wrote in our look ahead at 2021, “as Biden continues to look to environmental activists to build his government, even pulling from their ranks, it is increasingly clear Biden will take a whole of government approach to climate issues.” Now it is clear that “whole of” approach extended well beyond government. Even as activists increased their influence within the administration, green groups demanded individuals with ties to industry be barred from serving in Biden’s administration. These groups even decried Obama Administration officials they deemed too close to fossil fuel interests, such as Ernest Moniz. Activists like James Gustave Speth suggested the “new environmentalism” needed to demand more regulation of the “revolving door.”
 
Now, senior appointees, such as CEQ leaders Cecilia Martinez and David Kieve and White House Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, have departed the administration for green groups in exactly the type of revolving door situation green activists have decried. Last year, former CEQ officials Cecilia Martinez and David Kieve abruptly exited the administration to join environmental NGOs. Martinez moved on to the Bezos Earth Fund, which has become a major funder of environmental activism. Notably, prior to CEQ, Martinez had already spent time in the ranks of environmental advocacy as Executive Director of the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy. Kieve departed the administration to become President of EDF Action. Two and a half years into her second stint in a presidential administration, McCarthy is also returning to the world of ENGOs, joining Michael Bloomberg’s America is All In, which calls for “a whole-of-society mobilization to deliver the transformational change that will meet the challenge of the climate crisis.” McCarthy is on her second trip through the revolving door, having been president of NRDC following her time as President Obama’s EPA Administrator.
 
The list of Biden officials who could rejoin the ranks of environmental advocacy is likely to grow, as a plethora of current officials previously worked at environmental NGOs, including EPA Administrator Regan. Perhaps the most notable present Biden official representing climate activists’ “revolving door” is EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Regan’s environmental career began at EPA, later working in several positions at the Environmental Defense Fund, before working in state government and returning to EPA. Regan was reportedly considering his exit options earlier this year. A number of other environmental officials also come from the world of environmental advocacy, including CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory, who previously worked at Southern Environmental Law Center, after earlier stints at EPA and CEQ. BLM Director Tracy Stone Manning was previously at the National Wildlife Federation, with previous experience in state government and as a Congressional aide. EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox previously led the U.S. Water Alliance.
 
Industry has long faced allegations of utilizing inappropriate revolving doors with government, but, at least during the Biden Administration, the revolving door appears to swing more often between government and ENGOs, just without the same level of scrutiny. This reality means the environmental advocates working to influence policy very likely have more intimate relationships and knowledge of the regulators making that policy than do the regulated industries. As we have long noted, activism is becoming increasingly professionalized, and climate activists’ revolving door is just the latest example of how that professionalization manifests itself.

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