Washington Update From the US Oil & Gas Association - 5.12.2024

Shocked. Shocked to Find Lobbying Going on Here

May 10, 2024

Gasp! The Oil and Gas Industry Has Been Lobbying the potential Trump Administration

Shocking news from a publication focused on politics—the oil industry is lobbying a potential Trump administration. That’s the gist of a recent article from Politico. Politico writes: 

The U.S. oil industry is drawing up ready-to-sign executive orders for Donald Trump aimed at pushing natural gas exports, cutting drilling costs and increasing offshore oil leases in case he wins a second term, according to energy executives with direct knowledge of the work.

We can’t believe we need to say this, but that’s how good lobbying works. Apparently, it’s a secret that Politico’s reporters have uncovered that good industry lobbyists give elected officials as much as information as possible and provide information with specificity.  That’s the job of lobbyists—to provide information that helps the elected officials make good decisions. It’s really that simple. 

Politico thinks it’s a bit “gross” for the oil industry to draft potential executive orders for a Trump administration despite the fact that Democratic constituencies obviously did the same thing before Biden was elected. On Day 1 of the Biden administration, President Biden issued 9 executive orders and then issued 8 additional executive orders the next day. With so many executive orders issued so quickly, you can safely bet that many of these executive orders were drafted by outside groups before President Biden was elected.