"EPA Chief of Staff Amassed Clients During Year Away"

"EPA Chief of Staff Mandy Gunasekara signed more than a half-dozen clients, including some who have pushed back against environmental rules and questioned climate change science, in her year away from the agency.

Gunasekara's recusal statement, obtained by E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act, lists eight former clients, including the CO2 Coalition, which espouses rising carbon dioxide levels, and the Independent Women's Forum, a conservative women's nonprofit group that supports policies to "reduce government red tape," according to its website.

She listed the latter in written testimony, saying she was a visiting fellow for the group, when she was a witness at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing in February focusing on EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Several of Gunasekara's other ex-clients are communications shops such as Adfero, Clout Public Affairs and DCI Group LLC, as well as Height Capital Markets LLC, a financial firm."

Kevin Bogardus reports for E&E News September 2, 2020.

Source: E&E News, 09/03/2020