Mike McKenna

Credentials

Background

Michael (Mike) McKenna is a former energy lobbyist and communications specialist currently serving as a deputy assistant to the President of the United States.⁵ ⁶

McKenna served in the Department of Energy under the George H.W. Bush administration and was the Policy and Planning Director of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality between 1994 and 1997. He was forced to resign from the latter position after suggesting that the governor’s office should threaten to sue an oversight agency that was critical of the administration’s failure to enforce water quality laws.⁷ ⁸

McKenna founded MWR Strategies in 2004, where he lobbied on behalf of energy, utility, and pharmaceutical interests at FERC, EPA, DOE, and NRC. Some of MWR’s clients have included Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), Engie, Dow Chemical, American Electric Power, the National Petrochemical Refiners Association, Southern Company, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Koch Industries. McKenna has also been associated with the American Energy Alliance and the Institute for Energy Research.⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹² ¹³

Between 2007 and 2014, MWR received more than $1 million dollars in lobbying fees from Koch Industries and Southern Company. American Electric Power paid MWR $570,000 between 2004 and 2012.¹⁴

In September 2016, after advising former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s failed presidential bid, McKenna was picked to manage President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team at the Department of Energy, which regulated the activities of many of McKenna’s clients. One of his stated goals was to help roll back the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Water Act. McKenna left the transition team in November of 2016 to avoid de-registering as a lobbyist in accordance with new administration rules.¹⁵ ¹⁶ ¹⁷ ¹⁸ ¹⁹

Immediately following his departure from the Trump administration, McKenna returned to MWR where he continued to lobby FERC on behalf of CPV. Financial disclosures revealed that CPV paid McKenna more in 2017 than in any previous year, while a natural gas pipeline serving a CPV plant was awaiting approval by FERC.²⁰ ²¹ ²²

Stance on Climate Change

2016

Following his appointment to the Trump transition team at the Department of Energy in 2016, McKenna revealed his feelings about the Paris Climate Accords:

“[T]he right answer in a non-legally binding situation like Paris and the right answer on that option list is do nothing, and I expect that’s what the Trump administration is ultimately going to chose to do with Paris is do nothing, ignore it, pay no attention to it. Just treat it as an annoyance that comes around every year or so.”²³

Key Quotes

2017

Speaking to Time Magazine about EPA staff concerns about agency administrator Scott Pruitt’s history of suing the agency:

“We’re not about assuaging the concerns of the 14,000 employees of the EPA,” he said. “We’re about assuaging the concerns of the 63 million people who voted for Donald Trump.”²⁴

November 18, 2016

Speaking about the Trump administration’s plans to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan:

“I think there’s a bunch of different ways to scrap the plan.”²⁵

Key Deeds

October 24, 2019

McKenna was hired by the White House to work in the legislative affairs office and to serve as a deputy assistant to the president on energy-related issues.²⁶

May 29, 2019

MWR conducted another poll for the American Energy Alliance claiming voters in nine states opposed tax incentives for electric vehicles.²⁷

“Elected officials who are concerned about voter opinion should probably think twice before expanding favorable tax treatment for electric vehicles. Voters in each state we examined are very skeptical of them,” McKenna was quoted in the AEA press release.²⁸

DeSmog reviewed the previous poll and found it contained misleading questions and conflicted with a separate poll conducted by Yale University and George Mason University that showed that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all shared positive opinions of electric vehicles.²⁹

June 19, 2018

McKenna’s MWR Strategies conducted a push poll for the Koch-funded American Energy Alliance to gauge public perception of electric vehicles and emissions standards. Critics found that the poll was designed to create a negative impression of electric vehicles and their associated tax incentives through misleading questions.³⁰

Two of the questions claimed that purchasers of EVs received “75 hundred dollars” from taxpayers and the federal government, which is a false characterization of how tax credits actually work, and ignored the fact that most EVs are leased, not purchased.³¹

In promoting the poll, the AEA did not highlight results showing that respondents clearly believed that EVs were better for the environment and were in favor of emissions standards for gasoline-powered automobiles.³²

2016

The Trump campaign announced that McKenna was selected to manage the transition team at the Department of Energy, along with Myron Ebell at EPA and David Bernhardt at the Department of the Interior.³³

After two months on the job, McKenna left the team to avoid de-registering as a lobbyist in accordance with new rules barring lobbyists from performing official government duties.³⁴

McKenna told reporters that the incoming Trump administration planned to roll back the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Water Rule, and potentially withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.³⁵

Returning to his work with MWR, McKenna said:³⁶

“Although I have reluctantly decided that I cannot continue on the transition in an official capacity,” he said, “I am excited about continuing to work to make America great again.”

2010

Speaking to Fox News about stalled cap-and-trade legislation, McKenna described it as an energy tax:³⁷

“I don’t really see any compromise, because no matter how you slice this, it’s an energy tax. […] At the core it means to make energy more expensive.”

January 1997

McKenna resigned from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after a memo he wrote went public in which he urged the governor’s office to discredit and threaten a legislative oversight commission.³⁸

Affiliations

MWR Strategies – President/Czar, 2004-present.³⁹ ⁴⁰
Luntz Research Companies⁴¹
Vox Populi Communications Inc.⁴²
Andres McKenna Research⁴³
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality – Director of Policy and External affairs, 1994-1997.⁴⁴ ⁴⁵
US Department of Energy – External Relations Specialist.⁴⁶
US Department of Transportation – External Relations Specialist.⁴⁷
Institute for Public Policy Studies, University of Denver – Fellow.⁴⁸
Dole Institute, University of Kansas – Fellow.⁴⁹

Lobbying Clients

Below is a summary of McKenna’s former clients and lobbying firms, based on data from OpenSecrets:⁵⁰

Lobbying Firm & Client

1998

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Andres-McKenna Research Group

TECO Energy

Baise & Miller

Martinizing Environmental Group

Solid Waste Assn of North America

West Coast Refuse & Recycling Coalition

Dutko Group

Charles Schwab Corp

City of Sandy OH

DRS Technologies

European Telecommun Standards Institute

FedEx Corp

Food Distributors International

Government of the US Virgin Islands

Grocery Manufacturers of America

HNTB Holdings

Hoover Partners

Household International

ICO Global Communications

Inmarsat Ventures

International Assn of Fire Fighters

JM Family Enterprises

Justice Project

Level 3 Communications

Magellan Behavioral Health

Massachusetts School of Law

Maxxam Inc

MEP Management Services

Michigan Biotechnology Institute

Mirant Corp

Museum of Modern Art

National Assn of Recording Merchandisers

National Aviary in Pittsburgh

National Ground Water Assn

Oregon Garden Foundation

Public Service Enterprise Group

Satellite Broadcasting & Commun Assn

SpaceData International

Sprint Corp

Todhunter International

Tractebel North America

Tufts University

Union Pacific Corp

UnitedHealth Group

University of Maryland

VeriSign Inc

Wachtell Lipton et al

Western Governors University

Western Governors’ Assn

Lazarus Group

Baise & Miller

MWR Strategies

American Electric Power

Avanir Pharmaceuticals

Competitive Power Ventures

Dow Chemical

El Paso Corp

ENGIE

GDF SUEZ

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Koch Industries

National Petrochemical & Refiners Assn

NiSource Inc

Public Service Enterprise Group

Southern Co

SUEZ SA

TECO Energy

@mikemckenna3 Twitter
MWRstrat on YouTube

Publications

According to McKenna’s MWR bio, his writing has been featured in the following publications: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Investors Business Daily, National Review, Policy Review, Regulation, Washington Times, Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginian Plot-Ledger Star, and State Legislatures.⁵¹