Portal:Water/$potlight on the Revolving Door

The government-industry revolving door spins rapidly as it relates to the gas industry and Governor Ed Rendell's office. Three of Rendell's former high-level staffers have abruptly left their jobs gas industry lobbying positions. The three are Kenneth Scott Roy, Barbara Sexton, and Sarah Battisti.

Roy was Rendell's former executive deputy chief of staff and left to work for Range Resources Corporation. He formerly served as chief liaison between the governor's office and the gas industry and environmental groups, making the transition to Range Resources a perfectly logical one.

Sexton, former executive deputy secretary of environmental protection of Pennsylvania left to work in governmental affairs for Chesapeake Energy Corp., an Oklahoma company that is one of the nation's largest gas exploration firms.

Battisti, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Rendell, who, on her LinkedIn page says she focused on "Energy, Conservation and Natural Resources, Community and Economic Development," now works for the BG Group, an integrated oil and gas company which has its headquarters in Reading, Berkshire, England. "BG Group's main business is exploration for and the extraction of natural gas, liquefied natural gas and to a lesser extent oil. It sells these products to wholesale customers such as retail gas suppliers and electricity generating companies. It also owns some gas pipelines and is involved in some power generation projects. It is active around the world, with only a minority of its business being in the United Kingdom. BG Group is a multinational company with operations in 27 countries."

A story on this phenomenon can be seen here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100713_Rendell_advisers_getting_jobs_with_shale_gas_firms.html

Furthermore, on July 30 former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary and former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995-2001 Tom Ridge was named as an "adviser" to the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), and offered $900,000 per year to him and his consulting groups, Ridge Global and Ridge Policy Group in compensation for their "services." Ridge Global will earn $50,000 a month and the Ridge Policy Group will get $25,000 a month, each for 12 months.

Ridge will be joined by Duncan Campbell, who was his Chief of Staff during his stint at the DHS and currently works with him at Ridge Global as the Managing Director of Operations. Handling the chore of lobbying the Legislature will be two former aides from Ridge's days as governor, Mark Holman and Mark Campbell.

According to his biography on the Ridge Policy Group website, Holman "served President George W. Bush and Governor Ridge as Deputy Assistant to the President for the Office of Homeland Security immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He also served as Governor Ridge’s Chief of Staff from 1995-2000." To learn more about Holman, click here: http://www.ridgepolicygroup.com/mark-holman

Campbell also has extensive insider political experience. According to his Ridge Policy Group biography, "He served as a congressional chief of staff (1992-1994), a gubernatorial deputy chief of staff (1995-2001) and chief of staff to Governors Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker (2001-2002)."

The revolving door, indeed, is spinning rapidly in Pennsylvania these days.

The most recent article on the topic can be seen here:

http://www.propublica.org/article/pennsylvanias-governor-elect-nominates-insiders-for-top-environmental-posts