Polluters Have Their Claws in These Democratic Governors

Lil Sis, a group that tracks corporate influence in politics, reports that polluting industries have spent $15.9 million on lobbying in New York state since 2021, increasing their spending during that time by 52 percent. They have lobbied against a “cap and invest “measure, as well as other initiatives to comply with the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which sets timelines for the state to reduce carbon emissions. Lobbyists for polluters have also been donating to Hochul’s re-election fund, with the major firms of this kind—Bolton-St Johns, Hinman Straub, Ostroff Associates and Greenberg Traurig—all holding fundraisers for her even during her first few months in office. And Hochul’s husband isn’t her only personal relationship to the fossil fuel industry; its lobbying firms have hired numerous people who have worked in Hochul’s administration or have other close ties to Democrats in state government. To take just one example from the report, Bolton-St Johns employs Michael Keogh, the husband of Hochul’s chief of staff, Karen Keogh; Jordan Beberman, Hochul’s former director of New York City Inter-governmental Affairs; and Sage Cihak, who was an intern in her office. The firm regularly lobbies the governor on behalf of fossil fuel clients like National Fuel, one of the biggest industry leaders in the effort to unravel New York’s climate policy, according to the Lil Sis report.

This isn’t just an issue with Hochul, though. Many Democrats—even those being eyed most for the presidency in 2028—are way too close to polluters.

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, in a shocking betrayal of current and future Pennsylvanians, left the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a compact between ten states agreeing to cap the amount of permissible emissions from power plants. Advocacy group Pennsylvania Action on Climate notes that he accepted a luxury box at an Eagles game from a lobbyist who represents fossil fuel companies. Another example of subtle fossil fuel ties is that the Democratic Governors Association is his biggest campaign donor by far, and that group receives millions from the fossil fuel industry, allowing governors like Shapiro to accept dirty polluter money without appearing to do so.