"A top oil trade group submitted a policy wishlist to top DOI appointees. The Department is moving quickly to give industry what it wants."
"The oil industry wants many things out of the Trump administration, and it has collected its top priorities in a wishlist of sorts. Titled “Enabling Energy Dominance: Federal Policy Levers,” the 9-page document contains a sampler platter of Big Oil’s major policy desires, from rolling back key Endangered Species Act regulations to ending Biden-era protections for migratory birds and keeping the federal corporate tax rate at 21%.
The document was compiled this spring by the American Petroleum Institute, a leading oil and gas lobbying outfit, and describes in detail “specific actions the administration should take” at Big Oil’s behest. Public Domain obtained the wishlist via a Freedom of Information Act request. It can be accessed here.
On April 16, an API lobbyist named Kristin Whitman emailed the wishlist to three high-level officials working for the Trump administration — Matt Giacona, Brittany Kelm and Gregory Wischer. Giacona and Kelm were both lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry before joining the administration. Wischer was a long-time advocate for mining interests. All three have helped oversee the Interior Department’s wide-ranging oil and gas programs since Trump took office.
“We have several companies that would like to follow up with you directly to share specifics of the projects they are pursuing in the United States,” Whitman wrote in her email. She noted that the wishlist was drafted after her organization met with President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in March of this year."
Hana Beach and Jimmy Tobias report for Public Domain July 31, 2025.
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