Biden administration climate envoy John Podesta was behind the administration’s decision to pause U.S. liquefied natural gas exports.
His brother Tony Podesta could reap the benefits as a longtime lobbyist for foreign Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) companies—including one founded by a Russian energy oligarch.
John Podesta played a major role in ushering in the new LNG policy, sources told the Washington Free Beacon, a move that is seen as a political giveaway to green energy activists in the Democratic Party base. [emphasis, links added]
Deep-pocketed left-leaning donors, including charities funded by the Rockefeller brothers and Michael Bloomberg, have poured millions of dollars into environmental groups that lobbied to cut off new LNG permit approvals, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But the decision could also boost current and former clients of Podesta’s brother, Washington power lobbyist Tony Podesta, who has long represented foreign companies involved in the LNG industry.
Over the past decade, Tony Podesta’s client roster has included LNG group Golden Pass, which is co-owned by the state-run QatarEnergy, and the Bulgarian company Protos Energy, which reportedly hired him to work on LNG-related issues.
Since 2022, Tony Podesta’s firm has raked in over $1 million from Gemcorp, an investment fund that was barred from working on a Bulgarian LNG and energy development project due to the company’s links to Russia.
Tony Podesta’s lobbying work, and its potential overlap with his brother’s role in the Biden administration, has come under scrutiny in the past.
In 2021, House lawmakers questioned whether Tony Podesta’s work for the Chinese telecom company Huawei would influence the Biden administration’s China policy.
The lobbyist’s work in the LNG industry is raising similar questions, according to critics.
“It’s no secret that John Podesta is the person behind this moratorium,” one energy industry insider told the Free Beacon.
“Congress should take a very hard look at the fact that his brother stands to financially benefit from a restriction of U.S. LNG on the global market, whether it be from his past work with the Qataris or current reported work with Russian-backed entities with interest in LNG.”
“Less U.S. LNG on the global market will ensure Qatar and Russia receive hundreds of billions of dollars that would otherwise go to the U.S.”
Energy industry insiders have also warned that the administration’s decision to pause on LNG export permits will boost America’s foreign energy rivals, including Qatar and Russia. The countries are two of the world’s largest LNG exporters next to the United States.
Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, called the LNG pause a “win for Russia and a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs, and global climate progress.”
Tony Podesta has represented Gemcorp since 2022. But the investment group’s Russian roots have made it a controversial player in the energy industry.
In April 2022, the Bulgarian government agreed to co-finance Gemcorp’s energy modernization projects in the country, including an “Interconnector Greece Bulgaria (QGB) project for LNG,” according to a copy of the memorandum. But the plan drew public backlash after media outlets reported on Gemcorp’s links to Russia.
Read rest at Free Beacon
John Podesta is a political fixer/advisor for the leftist democrat party. His first “green” action is a true crime family move to benefit his brother’s firm and prevent profits from going to American LNG companies. The rule for understanding crime families is “Follow The Money”!
Podesta needs his Electricity cut off totally
If such a conflict of interest as exists with Tony Podesta was on the Republican side, we can be sure that there would be hundreds of news articles about it. But this conflict of interest is on the Democratic side, so we can be sure that the vast majority of Americans will never hear about it.