"Ethics: 15 Energy Lobbyists Hired Using Trump's Weakened Rule"

"Troy Lyons spent 2016 lobbying for Hess Corp., a New York City-based oil company. Among the issues he was hired to work on: U.S. EPA's proposed rules limiting methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, which Hess opposed.

Then, when 2017 rolled around, Lyons got a new job. He went to work for EPA.

President Trump campaigned on a promise to drain Washington of lobbyists' influence in government. But once in office, Trump issued an executive order that made it easier for lobbyists like Lyons to join the administration. Lyons, now associate administrator of EPA's Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, is one of 15 former registered energy lobbyists at EPA, the Interior Department and the Department of Energy identified by E&E News in a review of Senate lobbying records.

The new hires have helped Trump implement a sweeping deregulatory agenda. In the president's first 11 months in office, EPA has dispatched proposed carbon caps on power plants and regulations meant to limit runoff from coal mines. The agency also stalled methane limits on new oil and gas wells opposed by companies like Hess."

Benjamin Storrow reports for ClimateWire November 17, 2017.