House Science Committee Democrats have hired a lobbyist for an oil and gas industry front group as a professional staff member for their Subcommittee on Environment.
Kristi Parrott, the subcommittee’s new staff member, comes from HBW Resources, where she was federal affairs director. HBW Resources is a PR, communications, and lobbying firm that specializes in representing clients in the energy industry.
The firm appears to operate Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), an oil and gas company-funded nonprofit that fashions itself as a consumer group and describes its mission as “expand[ing] the dialogue between the energy & consuming sectors to improve overall understanding of the need for a balanced energy policy for America.” CEA’s members include oil companies like Chevron, Shell, and Occidental Petroleum, as well as trade groups like the U.S. Oil & Gas Association and the American Petroleum Institute. Chevron discloses paying the group up to $49,999 annually, Phillips 66 disclosed a payment of $80,000 in 2019, and utility company Dominion Energy disclosed paying the organization $88,000 in 2018.
