As President-elect Donald Trump takes direct aim at federal climate policy, states and governments their attorney general Preparing for a counterattack. In California, the governor asked lawmakers for $25 million to stop President Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s climate efforts. In Washington, voters showed more interest in the state’s groundbreaking climate policies, and outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee said his successor will be working hard to protect the state from a fossil fuel-friendly president. He said he would work on it.
But in Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s largest energy producers, where voters voted for Trump by a narrow margin, the president-elect has followed through on his promise to shatter President Biden’s environmental policies and defund clean energy. If this happens, it is unclear how strong the resistance will be. project.
One clue may be found in the person voters chose to be the state’s new attorney general, Republican Dave Sunday. Although he remained largely silent on environmental issues during the campaign run-up, he did raise significant amounts of money related to fossil fuels. for the industry to promote his campaign.
And while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro took on the oil and gas industry; President Trump at the time One of his first moves Sunday as attorney general was to name a prominent oil and gas advocate to his transition team.
Sunday accepted direct donations from a tax-exempt group tied to the fossil fuel industry called the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), according to state campaign finance records and filings with the Internal Revenue Service.
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Approximately $550,000 in direct donations ran on Sunday Through Keystone Prosperity PAC, a political action committee created by RAGA. In 2024, RAGA received at least $1.6 million from fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, utilities, and industry associations, including ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, the National Mining Association, the American Gas Association, and the American Petroleum Institute.
The Republican Attorneys General Association also receives contributions from small fossil fuel interests with businesses unique to Pennsylvania. Diversified Oil and Gas Co. owns many low-producing oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. be attacked We donated $15,000 to RAGA in June for our financial reporting mechanism. Equitrans recently merged with a Pittsburgh-based company Natural gas company EQTdonated $50,000 in April. RAGA then donated the funds on Sunday. two Payment: $400,000 in July, $150,000 in September. These were the two largest Sunday campaign contributions in 2024, according to data through Sept. 24.
“RAGA’s early involvement in Pennsylvania has paid off and proven to be one of the smartest investments ever,” said Peter Bisbee, executive director of the Republican Bar Association. statement Following Sunday’s victory. The organization “made record investments in Pennsylvania” last year, he said.
Sunday also received a small number of direct donations from oil and gas organizations. include $10,000 from Koch Industries PAC. $1,500 from Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil Association; $1,000 from a midstream oil and gas company energy transfer; and from $1,000 Pennsylvania Coal PAC.
“We hope our government will work to protect us Pennsylvanians from drinking and breathing toxic chemicals as we go about our daily lives,” said a grassroots coalition of climate change and anti-corruption activists. said Michael Bagdes-Canning, a member of Pennsylvania Action on Climate. . “But in Harrisburg. [the state capital]The fossil fuel industry is busy working behind the scenes and in secret to convert its vast wealth into the political power needed to protect and expand that wealth. ”
Capital & Main reached out to the campaign Sunday but did not receive a response by press time.
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Former Gov. Tom Corbett was among those chosen Sunday to help with the transition as the state’s first Republican attorney general in 12 years. pro drilling stance This comes amid a hydraulic fracturing boom in the state. Corbett served as attorney general before becoming governor, and during his tenure he said: gifts received It is tied to the oil and gas industry.
From California to Pennsylvania, the role of top state law enforcement officials could be crucial as states seek to counter President Trump’s pledge to strip regulations and efforts to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. There is sex.
Joseph Lom, a senior research fellow at the university, said: “If people who care about the environment and climate lose the presidency to someone who is clearly so vehemently opposed to action on the environment and climate… will rely on the state.” from the Pennsylvania Center for Science, Sustainability, and Media.
While some are lining up to file lawsuits against companies that violate President Trump’s policies and state laws, Republican attorneys general active in RAGA are likely to take a different tack.
The Republican Attorneys General Association was founded in 1999 to elect Republicans to attorney general seats across the country and to “protect the rule of law.” Website state. The organization is currently 28 member statesHowever, Pennsylvania is not yet among them. Shapiro will serve as attorney general until 2022, when Democrat Michelle Henry takes over as president. acting role She chose not to run in the 2024 election, opening the door to a crowded primary.
RAGA has led legal challenges to: Selection subject environmental rules Throughout Biden’s term. It is also robocall campaign Four years ago, he called for participation in the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., that led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The organization receives donations from industries and companies of all sizes, many of which have earned invitations to national conferences. face time Along with the Attorney General. access to conference It is set in tiers depending on the amount donated by the donor. The 2018 benefits list included two corporate passes for $15,000 and five passes for $125,000, invitations to dinners and club events, and the opportunity to sit on a panel.
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“The state attorneys general aren’t really even assessing what the average population of the state wants,” said Lisa Graves, founder of political watchdog research firm True North Research. “Instead [they] They rub elbows, hang out, and go on little mini-vacations with industry lobbyists who have a special opportunity to be listened to. ”
The Republican Bar Association does not submit records of its donations to the Federal Election Commission, but to the IRS. These donations are given to individual candidates in contentious attorney general races across states, obscuring their origins. For example, there is little way for an outsider to know whether a company intended a RAGA donation to go to a particular attorney general candidate.
“I think they’re trying to obscure their involvement,” Rom said of the companies donating through RAGA.
2017, Wall Street Journal reported That said, donors can privately allocate their contributions to specific candidates when donating to corresponding Democratic and Republican governors associations that function similarly to RAGA.
“RAGA is one tentacle in an effort by right-wing billionaires and the fossil fuel industry to seize control of our nation’s courts and government for the benefit of big business,” said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. “It’s one,” he said. guardian In August.
Keystone Prosperity PAC’s Sunday contributions represented about 26 percent of all direct donations and 83 percent of direct donations from political action committees. Spotlight Pennsylvania reported In October, Keystone Prosperity PAC also spent $5.4 million on ads on Sunday’s behalf, calling his opponent Eugene DePasquale “unconventional” and criticizing his stance on immigration and police reform. I scolded him. The PAC’s spending levels set off alarms within DePasquale’s camp, as the source of the donations was not disclosed Sunday.
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Mr. DePasquale received about $1.6 million from the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which received smaller contributions from some of the same fossil fuel groups that donated to RAGA. For example, American fuel and petrochemical manufacturers contributed $92,500 to RAGA, but $25,000 to DAGA. The American Gas Association donated $40,000 to RAGA, but only $15,000 to DAGA.
Sunday’s campaign platform gave no indication of what concrete action he would take on climate change. From Harrisburg ran a campaign Primarily a “tough on crime” platform to reduce prison recidivism and address the state’s opioid crisis through a philosophy of “.”responsibility and redemption”
Mr. DePasquale previously served as deputy secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. 2019authored a report that found climate change was costing Pennsylvania hundreds of millions of dollars a year. For this reason, Pennsylvania’s attorney general election most important for the climate Domestically, according to E&E News.
So where does the state’s environmental community go from here?
“We’re going to remain positive and optimistic until there’s no reason not to,” said Jen Quinn, legislative and political director for Sierra Club Pennsylvania, about Sunday’s election. Still, having an environmental activist at the helm of the attorney general’s office may have served as a deterrent to polluters, she said. It remains to be seen whether Sunday will play that role.
“I think it helps just to have someone there who can be strong on certain issues,” Quinn said. “If a large amount of special interest is going to support him, you have to think about what the long-term impact of that will be.”
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