Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Amidst explosive news reports this week of more than 40 administration staffers having direct ties to fossil fuel companies and the existence of a “concierge, white glove service” set up by the Trump Administration to cater to fossil fuel companies’ demands across government, the Sierra Club announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Department of Energy for the agency to provide emails between agency officials and fossil fuel industry representatives, along with agency official calendars, in response to the environmental organization’s Freedom of Information Act request.
The Department of Energy will provide hundreds of pages of documents to the Sierra Club in monthly installments, beginning with the first batch of more than 300 pages of email records publicly released today by the organization. Sierra Club’s FOIA request sought all communications between 30 new political appointees, including Secretary Wright and embedded Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE staffers, and more than 80 entities likely to seek special access to the Administration. The request also sought these appointees’ calendars.
VIEW THE FIRST BATCH OF DOCUMENTS HERE
The agreement comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club in June of this year regarding the department’s refusal to respond to the group’s records requests. Van Swearingen and Eric Monek Anderson of the law firm Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP represent Sierra Club in the litigation, advised by the Club’s own Environmental Law Program.
Initial review of FOIA documents containing the Department of Energy’s external communications reveal numerous requests for meetings and favors from the oil and gas industry. Notable requests include the historically Trump-aligned American Petroleum Institute asking for a tariff exemption for crude oil, methane gas, and refined products. API also asks for reconsideration of the U.S. Trade Representative's action on China's targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, since it would make operations more expensive for the US LNG export industry.
“Time and again, the Trump administration has slow-walked, delayed, or outright ignored requests for public information and records of communications that officials are having with the fossil fuel industry, as families nationwide continue to see utility costs skyrocket,” said Elena Saxonhouse, Sierra Club Managing Attorney and FOIA Lead. “To date, the agency's actions have primarily benefited big industry and corporate polluters—all at the expense of the health and security of our people and planet. That should concern us all. While we’re encouraged to begin to see some level of transparency being provided as a result of our efforts to hold this administration accountable in court, we won’t stop fighting back until they follow the law and protect the people they’re supposed to serve instead of polluting industries.”
The Sierra Club requested these calendars and correspondence due to a series of consequential decisions made by Trump’s Department of Energy, including extending the life of uneconomic coal-fired power plants, rolling back energy efficiency standards, and canceling financing for green manufacturing projects. In recent weeks the agency’s reckless actions have only grown even more brazen, including the creation of a bogus report crafted by a panel of climate deniers intended to help dismantle the EPA’s endangerment finding rollback, a recently announced $625 million dollar taxpayer-funded bailout of old and toxic coal plants, and the continued cuts of billions of dollars in clean energy funding across the country.
The Sierra Club also expects to receive additional batches of emails and records from other agencies, including EPA and Interior, in the days and weeks ahead.
Additional Information
The Sierra Club has also filed lawsuits against the the Office of Management and Budget for failing to respond to three Freedom of Information Act requests, which seek OMB’s records and communications related to freezing Congressionally appropriated funding, as well as communications between key OMB and DOGE staff with external parties; as well as the Department of the Interior for failing to respond to requests on external communications for key Interior staff, including Secretary Doug Burgum, acting assistant secretaries, and designated DOGE staff.
The Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program has filed numerous FOIA requests throughout the current Trump Administration, receiving documents about funding freezes, agency terminations and vacancies of critical staff, as well as companies requesting presidential exemptions to avoid air pollution regulations.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.