White House Met in Secret with Industry Before Frack Rule

Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

Government rulemaking takes place with everything on the record in a public docket, right? Well ... actually not.

EnergyWire reporter Mike Soraghan revealed in an April 12, 2013 story that presidential aide Heather Zichal met more than 20 times with industry groups lobbying on the proposed rule for fracking on federal lands. Soraghan used White House visitor logs to do the story.

The WatchDog in the past has highlighted another White House channel for secretly sandbagging regulations — the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

• "Hydraulic Fracturing: White House Huddled with Industry Before Changes to BLM Fracking Rule," EnergyWire, April 12, 2013, by Mike Soraghan.
• Previous Story: SEJ WatchDog of April 10, 2013.