Liberal climate activists, once prepared to go to war to stop administration appointments with fossil fuel industry ties, are now rethinking that strategy in relation to President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for top economic adviser.
Liberal groups for months have urged Biden to reject personnel from working for him if they previously worked with fossil fuel companies or Wall Street firms that invested in coal, oil, or natural gas.
But some activists are choosing not to launch a major fight to stop Brian Deese, Biden’s expected choice for National Economic Council director, even though he is the head of global sustainable investing at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and top fossil fuel investor.
These activists recognize that pushing too hard could limit the influence of liberals in the Biden administration.
“This is one of several moments where we are seeing splits in the Left. It’s really easy to be on the same side when you are fighting a common enemy. It’s a lot harder to figure out what you agree with. You are seeing some of that sorting,” a liberal climate activist told the Washington Examiner. The activist, who works for a group pushing back against fossil fuel-aligned personnel, asked to be anonymous because of internal divisions.
Deese is proving to be more divisive among liberals than Ernest Moniz, whom progressive groups are more united and aggressive in opposing as the next energy secretary.
That’s because Deese would bring climate policymaking experience to his role as National Economic Council director, an unusual resume for that position, which does not require Senate confirmation.
“The counterfactual person to run the NEC could be a person who doesn’t know or care about climate action,” Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of environmental politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara who is usually allied with liberal groups, told the Washington Examiner.
Deese was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama focused on climate and energy, playing a major role in shaping the Paris agreement and helping impose strict fuel-efficiency standards on automakers. Those experiences would position Deese to carry out Biden’s intent to make climate change policy central to all aspects of government.
“It’s both true there is opposition to him, and we don’t approve of some of his policies and some of what he’s done with his life and that he also might be one of our routes into the Biden administration. Is that enough to merit shutting up?” the liberal activist said.
Some liberal groups such as Oil Change U.S. that have led the campaign pressuring Biden to avoid Obama-era personnel with fossil fuel ties chose not to issue a public position on Deese at all.
Other people that have associated with that campaign, such as former Obama climate adviser John Podesta of Climate Power 2020 and Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, have made supportive statements.
Many of the largest legacy environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and League of Conservation Voters, have never signed on to public letters protesting against fossil fuel and Wall Street representatives.
But other groups that have led that charge, including the influential Sunrise Movement, have not backed down.
“There are many diverse, qualified people that can help Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Build Back Better who didn’t choose to work at predatory investment firms,” Evan Weber, political director of Sunrise, said in a statement about Deese. “The revolving door between Wall Street and the White House does no good for working people or the planet.”
Former Obama-era colleagues of Deese are particularly aggrieved about the stance of Sunrise, a group of young climate activists that helped inspire the “Green New Deal” and drew attention by protesting with Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
“This tactic of shooting your allies for not being pure rather than focusing on the people who actually are your enemies is shortsighted,” said Jeff Navin, co-founder of Boundary Stone Partners, an energy advisory firm, and a former acting chief of staff at the Energy Department.
“There is an activist wing of the party that will never be satisfied. I don’t think they are being taken all that seriously,” Navin told the Washington Examiner.
Christy Goldfuss, a former colleague of Deese’s who led Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality, said he was key to a new BlackRock policy this year to make climate change central to its investment strategy and to divest from companies that generate more than a quarter of their revenue from coal.
Liberals said the policy did not go far enough, noting Deese has been unable to improve BlackRock’s proxy voting record on climate-related shareholder resolutions and that the company continues to support some coal mining firms, along with oil and gas.
“I understand a lot of the frustration about the revolving door people making millions and then coming into government and protecting their previous interests. That’s just not the case with Brian,” said Goldfuss, who is now senior vice president for energy and environment policy at the Center for American Progress. “He went to BlackRock to make change,” she told the Washington Examiner.
Goldfuss defended Deese’s record in the Obama administration, noting the science underscoring the need for aggressive climate policies wasn’t as clear.
“It’s very difficult for climate activists to understand and see what he was able to accomplish at the end of the Obama administration,” Goldfuss said. “Sometimes, people forget we were operating under a different set of circumstances.”
Brett Hartl, government affairs director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a liberal environmental group, said he sympathizes with Sunrise’s persistence on challenging Biden’s personnel choices. Hartl credited Biden for positioning climate as a priority across all agencies and for creating new positions focused specifically on the issue.
But he criticized Biden’s preference for former Obama administration colleagues.
“I certainly don’t blame Sunrise for looking at what we are seeing so far and thinking all the old guard is coming back for another shot at government, and that is alarming because their piecemeal, incremental approach has failed,” Hartl told the Washington Examiner. “The Christy Goldfusses of the world need to chill out and stop being holier than thou about it.”
Brandon Hurlbut, a former Energy Department chief of staff who worked with Deese, has tried to make Sunrise and other liberal groups more aware of Deese’s record.
“If all you know was he worked at BlackRock, that’s not an accurate representation of his career and work and commitment to climate,” Hurlbut, who co-founded Boundary Stone Partners with Navin, told the Washington Examiner.
Hurlbut is on Sunrise’s board and has advised the group how to maximize its influence.
The group has evolved from the Democratic primary, when Sunrise rated Biden’s campaign climate plan an “F” before coming around to support him over President Trump.
Varshini Prakash, Sunrise’s executive director, participated on a task force Biden created with Bernie Sanders, whose recommendations led Biden to strengthen his promised climate policies.
“When it comes to getting things done in Washington, D.C. — that requires some nuance and a balance between outside activism and pressure and inside policymaking,” Hurlbut said. “What separates great leaders from others is trying to find that balance.”
