While President-elect Donald Trump directly targets federal and state climate policy and Their public defenders They prepare to respond. In California, the governor asked lawmakers for $25 million to fight any effort by Trump to overturn the state’s climate-friendly initiatives. In Washington, voters doubled their support for the state’s historic climate policy, and Jay Inslee – the outgoing governor – said his successor is set to work hard to protect the state from a fossil fuel-friendly president.
But in Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s largest energy producers where voters narrowly voted for Trump, it’s unclear how intense the resistance will be if the next president follows through on his pledges to shred President Biden’s environmental agenda and eliminate money for clean energy. Projects.
One clue can be found in the person voters elected as the state’s new attorney general — Dave Sunday, a Republican who has been largely silent on environmental issues during the run-up to the election but has relied on a major infusion of fossil fuel-related money. industry to drive his campaign.
While Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro took charge of the oil and gas industry Then-President Trump While he was justice minister, one of the first steps he took on Sunday was to name a major oil and gas producer to his transition team.
State campaign finance records and Internal Revenue Service filings show the Sunday before made direct contributions from a tax-exempt association tied to the fossil fuel industry called the Republican Attorneys General Association, or RAGA.
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About $550,000 in direct contributions It flowed into Sunday Through Keystone Prosperity PAC, a political action committee created by RAGA. In 2024, RAGA received at least $1.6 million from fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, utilities and trade groups, including ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, the National Mining Association, the American Gas Association, and the American Petroleum Institute.
The Republican Attorneys General Association also received contributions from smaller fossil fuel interests with private operations in Pennsylvania. The diversified oil and gas company owns a large number of low-producing oil and gas wells, many of which are in Pennsylvania, which it has Come under fire For its financial reporting mechanisms, it donated $15,000 to RAGA in June. Equitrans, which recently merged with a Pittsburgh-based company Natural gas company EQTHe contributed $50,000 in April. RAGA then donated the funds to Sunday’s two Payments: $400,000 in July and $150,000 in September. This marks the two largest Sunday campaign donations in 2024, according to data through Sept. 24.
“RAGA’s early involvement in Pennsylvania has paid off and proven to be one of our wisest investments to date,” Peter Bisbee, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said in a statement. statement After Sunday’s win. He said the organization “made a record investment in Pennsylvania” last year.
Sunday also received a host of direct contributions from oil and gas-related entities. Included $10,000 from Koch Industries PAC; $1,500 from Pennsylvania Crude Oil Alliance; $1,000 from an average oil and gas company Energy transfer; And $1000 from Pennsylvania Coal PAC.
“As we Pennsylvanians go about our lives, we hope our government will act to protect us from drinking and breathing toxic chemicals,” said Michael Baggis-Canning, a member of Pennsylvania Climate Action, a grassroots coalition of climate and anti-corruption advocates. . “But in Harrisburg [the state capital]The fossil fuel industries are busy, behind the scenes and in secret, converting their vast wealth into the political power they need to protect and expand that wealth.
Capital & Main reached out to the campaign on Sunday and did not hear back by press time.
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Among the people chosen Sunday to aid his transition as the state’s first Republican attorney general in 12 years is former Gov. Tom Corbett, who has become known for his politics. Pro drill position During the state’s fracking boom. Prior to serving as governor, Corbett served as Attorney General, and while in office. Accepted gifts Related to the oil and gas industry.
From California to Pennsylvania, the role of the state’s top law enforcement official could be crucial for states intent on fighting Trump’s promises to roll back regulations and initiatives designed to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
“When people who care about the environment and climate lose the presidency to someone who is clearly as radically opposed to action on the environment and climate as possible, we turn to the states,” said Joseph Romm, a senior research fellow at the university. Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and Media.
With some lining up to file lawsuits against Trump’s policies, as well as companies violating laws in their states, Republican RAGA-activist attorneys general are likely to take a different tack.
The Republican Attorneys General Association was founded in 1999 with the goal of electing Republicans to district attorney seats across the country and “defending the rule of law,” Website Countries. The organization currently has 28 member statesAlthough Pennsylvania is not one of them yet. Shapiro served as Attorney General until 2022, and Democrat Michelle Henry took office in an election Role acting in January 2023. She chose not to run for office in 2024, opening the doors to a crowded primary.
RAGA led the legal challenges to major Environmental rules Over the course of Biden’s term. He also led A robocall campaign Four years ago, they urged attendance at the January 6 rally in Washington, D.C., which evolved into the attack on the Capitol. The organization receives contributions from industry and companies of all sizes, many of which get invitations to national conferences where they can get them Face time With public defenders. Access to Conferences It is determined by the amount given by the donor. On the 2018 list of perks, $15,000 netted two company tickets, while $125,000 netted five passes, invitations to dinners and club events, and the opportunity to sit on panels, among other rewards.
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“What we have is state attorneys general who are not actually evaluating what ordinary people in the state want,” said Lisa Graves, founder of True North Research, a political watchdog research firm. “instead of [they] They rub elbows, they hang out, they go on these little vacations with industry lobbyists who get exclusive opportunities to bend their ears.
The Republican Attorneys General Association does not keep records of its contributions to the Federal Election Commission, but to the IRS. These donations can then be made to individual candidates in contentious district attorney races across states, thus concealing their assets. There is no way for an outsider to know whether a company intended its RAGA donations to go to a particular candidate for public office, for example.
“I think they’re trying to obscure their involvement,” Roem said of companies donating money through RAGA.
In 2017, The Wall Street Journal I mentioned When donating to the Democratic and Republican Governors’ Associations, which operate similarly to RAGA, donors have the ability to informally allocate their donations to a particular candidate.
“RAGA is one tentacle of an effort by right-wing billionaires and the fossil fuel industry to seize control of our courts and government for big corporate interests,” said U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island. The Guardian In August.
Sunday’s Keystone Prosperity PAC donations represent about 26 percent of his total direct contributions and 83 percent of his direct contributions from political action committees. Pennsylvania Lights I mentioned In October, Keystone Prosperity PAC also spent $5.4 million running ads on Sunday’s behalf, calling his challenger, Eugene DePasquale, “out of touch” and rebuking him for his stance on immigration and police reform. The PAC’s spending levels raised alarm bells within DePasquale’s campaign that Sunday was unclear about the sources of donations.
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For his part, DiPasquale received about $1.6 million from the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which received contributions from some of the same fossil fuel entities that donated to RAGA, albeit in smaller amounts. Where American fuel and petrochemical manufacturers gave $92,500 to RAGA, for example, they gave $25,000 to DAGA. Where the American Gas Association gave $40,000 to RAGA, it gave DAGA only $15,000.
The campaign platform on Sunday gave no indication of the specific path he would take on climate. Harrisburg native He campaigned Primarily on a “tough on crime” platform to reduce recidivism in prisons and address the state’s opioid crisis through a philosophy of “Accountability and redemption“.
DePasquale previously served as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, and in 2019authored a report that found climate change costs Pennsylvania hundreds of millions of dollars annually. This is what made the Pennsylvania Attorney General race one of the two races Most important For climate In the country, according to E&E News.
So where do government environmental groups go from here?
“We’re going to remain fairly positive and optimistic, until we have a reason not to,” Gene Quinn, legislative and policy director of the Pennsylvania Sierra Club, said about Sunday’s election. However, she said having an environmental champion at the helm of the prosecutor’s office may have served as a deterrent to polluters — and it’s not yet clear whether Sunday will fill that role.
“I think just having someone strong there on some issues is helpful,” Quinn said. “If we’re seeing a lot of special interest money going to support it, you just have to wonder, what are the long-term implications of that?”
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