Energy Lessons from Podesta’s Inbox

Federal Regulation, Opinions, Policy

October 21, 2016

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by Anthony Adragna (Politico’s Morning Energy) … Comb through the tens of thousands of messages from John Podesta’s hacked inbox long enough, and you can find a veritable roadmap to the energy policy Hillary Clinton would execute if she wins the White House. They show the Clinton campaign chairman and the rest of her team to be as driven by policy details and the power of pragmatic messaging as the candidate herself, Pro’s Elana Schor reports. The trove also offers clear lessons to the environmental and industry groups that are getting ready to lobby her administration.

Four key takeaways: Elana sees four key takeaways after examining the messages. 1) Like Obama, Clinton’s team wants environmental advocates to push: Her aides seem wary of unrealistic proposals from the left but ready to engage with critics who want more.

2) Timing is everything: Clinton’s team works to avoid getting pinned down in areas where a future deal could be cut, like the Renewable Fuel Standard where two separate email exchanges show aides working hard to keep their options open.

3) Her team is open to deals like the one in December 2015: Clinton stayed open to allowing the repeal of the ban on crude oil exports to go through as part of last year’s government funding debate if an agreement could “strike the right balance” and emails show she barely tweaked that stance after congressional leaders reached a deal.

4) Pipelines are problematic for her: Emails show the campaign hoping to prevent rebellion among building trade unions that supported the since-rejected Keystone pipeline and that dynamic has only intensified as Clinton continues to stay out of the fray on the Dakota Access pipeline.

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Quotable Podesta: He replied to an email from David Marchick, managing director of the Carlyle Group, thanking him for his time in the Obama White House and joking that he did “great things … all except [Renewable Identification Numbers].” Podesta’s response suggested sour feelings for the RFS: “RINs were the only thing that I was completely happy to walk away from.” READ MORE

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