"President Obama's top energy adviser repeatedly huddled with oil and gas lobbyists in the months before the administration changed new hydraulic fracturing rules to the industry's liking, records show."
"Heather Zichal, deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change, also met with environmental groups. But much more of her calendar was given over to producers who complained the Bureau of Land Management's proposal for fracking on public land was too burdensome.
Zichal met more than 20 times in 2012 with industry groups and company executives lobbying on the proposed rule, according to an EnergyWire review of White House visitor records. Among them were the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), along with BP America Inc., Devon Energy Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Zichal and Dan Utech, deputy director for energy and climate change, held four meetings with environmental groups on the proposal, commonly called the "BLM Fracking Rule.""
Mike Soraghan reports for EnergyWire April 12, 2013.
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