Ahead of the midterms, the American Gas Association (AGA) has already set its sights on what the trade organization could accomplish if more Republicans are elected to Congress. Lobbyists are looking to undermine the Biden administration’s goal of reducing the use of natural gas in homes. The natural gas industry is specifically looking at a rebate program that could save families at least $350 per year were they to buy heat pumps or other energy-efficient appliances.
“Republicans are expected to retake the House of Representatives, and they are champing at the bit to do some oversight to try to change the law where they can,” AGA lobbyist Allison Cunningham said at a gas industry conference last month, The New York Times reports. Cunningham is one of the AGA’s top lobbyists and previously held positions with a natural gas vehicle trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, and intermittently worked with the House of Representatives, holding positions like deputy chief of staff and executive assistant.
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It only makes sense that Cunningham would have the ear of Republicans if she worked alongside so many of them. The New York Times quotes Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio as being among Cunningham’s allies who’s been in discussions with the gas industry and is eager to use his position as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to further scrutinize the Department of Energy while pushing more natural gas onto consumers. Johnson has served in the House of Representatives since 2011, which overlaps with the more than three years Cunningham spent in various positions there from Jan. 2011 to Feb. 2014.
Johnson has also benefitted greatly from the oil and gas industry, having received the most lifetime campaign donations compared with any other sector, totaling more than half a million dollars. Another Republican quoted by the Times, Rep. Frank D. Lucas has received nearly $475,000 in lifetime campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.
The Oklahoma Republican penned a joint letter with fellow Republican Rep. Randy Weber to Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm about loan programs under the Inflation Reduction Act that would further incentivize emissions reductions. Weber has received more than $345,000 in lifetime campaign contributions from the same sector.
The AGA is clearly unconcerned with funding Lucas and Weber this election cycle, given their enthusiastic support that has spanned years. Instead, the organization has spread its money across a curious mix of Democrats and Republicans in hopes that concerns like energy security will entice lawmakers to do the AGA’s bidding.
The Houston Chronicle offers a similar look into how the AGA and other oil and gas entities are looking to capitalize on a possible Republican surge and features Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, one of the AGA’s top recipients of campaign donations for 2022. The outlet quotes Rodgers in a recent Fox Business appearance expressing her optimism for her fellow Republicans to win House majority “so that we can unleash American energy.” So long as money keeps flowing from polluters to the likes of Rodgers, the Washington state representative may unfortunately get her wish.
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