EPA boss, Dem money man meet behind closed doors
TRUE BLUE?: Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer bankrolls Democrats and is scheduled to go behind closed doors with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and a deep-pocketed donor to Democrat candidates will convene with climate activists behind closed doors Wednesday at the Mayflower Hotel – keeping uninvited press at bay.
INVITATION ONLY: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy will speak to America’s largest liberal activist group in a closed-door setting.
McCarthy will deliver a keynote address to the Center for American Progress (CAP), one of the country’s largest and most liberal activist organizations.
Tom Steyer – a billionaire who The New York Times dubs “the most influential environmentalist in American politics” – will participate in a panel discussion on “climate resilience.”
The panel also features Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin and “CAP Distinguished Senior Fellow” Carol Browner. Browner headed the EPA under Bill Clinton and formerly served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy for President Obama.
CAP spokeswoman Katie Murphy told Watchdog on Tuesday that the D.C. event was “at capacity” and that no more reporters could be accommodated. She suggested that interested parties view the proceedings at americanprogress.org.
Steyer, whom CAP describes as “an investor, philanthropist and advanced energy advocate,” spent more than $70 million trying to help Democrats survive the midterm elections, with little success.
In Florida alone, he shelled out $15 million to spread a climate-change message on behalf of Democrats. That fell flat, as GOP Gov. Rick Scott beat Charlie Crist.
The Washington meeting comes on the heels of Obama’s visit to China, where the president touted a coal-reduction agreement with Beijing’s communist government.
The deal restricts U.S. coal consumption, enforced by the EPA, but does not bind China to reduce its use.
Though billed by the administration as a “historic” agreement, the Institute for Energy Research called it a “swindle” that will kill American jobs and raise electric rates in this country.
Steyer, in a fit of contradiction, is helping to bankroll a massive coal mine in Australia.
Kenric Ward is a national correspondent for Watchdog.org and chief of its Virginia Bureau. Contact him at (571) 319-9824. @Kenricward
