A former Obama adviser has rejoined a green energy advocacy group as a vice president, raising questions about the propriety of a former White House official working to influence the White House, according to reports.
Nathaniel Keohane, former Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment, has rejoined the Environmental Defense Fund as a vice president, the Washington Examiner reported Friday.
The Environmental Defense Fund announced today that Nathaniel Keohane will be rejoining the organization as it’s new vice president. What was he doing while he was away? He was serving as special assistant to President Obama for energy and the environment in the National Economic Council and Domestic Policy Council. Prior to that Keohane had been EDF’s chief economist.
In other words, Keohane had been involved in lobbying the administration on green issues, then advising it on green issues and is now lobbying it again on those same issues. It is exactly the kind of "revolving door" of public service and private lobbying that is so often decried good government types for blurring the distinction between the two. Only this time it is not a corporation, but an activist group. Which proves that the revolving door swings in both directions.