Biden’s climate advisor has ties to oil and gas industry: Report

US President-elect Joe Biden’s senior advisor on climate change has faced strong criticism from environmental advocates over his ties with the oil and gas industry, according to a report.

Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman who has played a key role in Biden’s presidential campaign, was named as a senior adviser to the president-elect and will become director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, The Guardian reported.

Richmond will advise Biden on climate change and help advance the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.

At a press conference this week, Richmond – who has represented a south Louisiana district for 10 years – announced that he would resign from Congress to assume his new position.

“I look forward to changing not only Louisiana but the entire south and empowering its citizens,” he said.

The Democrat has been under criticism from both local constituents and climate activists for receiving generous donations from oil, gas and chemical industries.

He has also exhibited a degree of indifference to local air pollution, with his congressional district being home to seven of the 10 most air-polluted census tracts in the US.

Richmond pledged greater public engagement to address the issue.

Some advocates said while they were worried about Richmond’s track record on climate, they were cautiously optimistic about his new appointment.

“I think he’s in a position now to be able to better serve the constituents of his district,” said Robert Taylor, president of the Concerned Citizens of St John Parish, a community group in one of the most polluted parts of the region.

“I’m happy to see him get the appointment, I just hope he uses it to help us,” he told the paper. Taylor added: “I would like to see him hold these chemical plants accountable because they are getting away with murder.”

Biden has signaled his intent to put climate change on top of his administration's policy agenda. However, concerns persist about the degree to which the Democrat is willing to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry.

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Apart from Richmond, environmental activists are worried about Ernest Moniz, another individual with ties to the oil and gas industry who is widely speculated to have been picked to lead the Department of Energy.

Moniz was Secretary of Energy in the administration of former President Barack Obama from 2013 through 2017 and played a critical role in mustering support for the controversial use of fracking to produce natural gas.

Moniz is currently a director of Southern Company, the second-highest carbon-polluting energy company in America.

During the 2020 campaign, Biden unequivocally rejected calls to ban fracking, which experts say is harmful to the environment and people’s health.

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