Hubbel Relat

Credentials

JD from George Mason School of Law [1]

Background

Hubbel Relat is Vice President for State Policy and General Counsel for American Energy Alliance. [1]

According to his profile at AEA. Relat has worked for several non-profit organizations focusing on promoting free market public policy, particularly energy and regulatory reform. [1]

Relat is currently writing for Fueling U.S. Forward, a Koch-funded front group crafted by veteran Washington communications specialists. The organization — led by long-time fossil fuel executive and lobbyist Charlie Drevna— seeks to present oil and gas as savior fuels without any mention of the well-known impacts of fossil fuel pollution on our air, water, health and climate. [2]

He is the former associate director of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. [3]

Stance on Climate Change

Speaking on President Obama's carbon plan at CPAC2016: [4]

“The President's carbon rule, his climate legacy, is fundamentally seeking to transfer wealth from the middle states who rely on affordable energy and have made good energy policy priority and transfer wealth to pay for the bad decisions by states like California and the northeast. […] That's fundamentally what this is–a wealth transfer for states that he likes from states that he does not. ” [2:47:39]

Key Quotes

April 15, 2016

“EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy declared that there was 'not one single bit of evidence that [the EPA has] destroyed an industry or significantly impacted jobs other than in a positive way.'
This statement is clearly contradicted by reality and credible studies. For example, the economic consulting firm NERA found that the cost of EPA’s so-called 'Clean Power Plan' could total nearly $300 billion. Nearly $300 billion in compliance costs will significantly impact jobs.” [5]

March 31, 2016

“First, wind and solar are intermittent sources of energy, which means they cannot be relied on to provide sufficient electricity at a given point when the grid needs it. Conversely, coal and natural gas are baseload sources of power, precisely because they can be scaled up or down at any given time to meet energy needs. This is a critical difference between renewables and fossil fuels that permanently makes the former unable to actually replace the latter.
The cherry-picking method used to manufacture these projections has been written about extensively.” [6]

July 8, 2015

“The administration equating our commentary on the relevance of the [mercury rule] to [the carbon rule] as “apples to oranges” presents a straw man that distracts from the lesson states should take away from [the mercury rule] — if you start implementing the rule before full legal resolution, there's no going back. Even worse, the EPA is counting on this to happen.” [7]

Key Deeds

January 21, 2017

FUSF awarded three African-American students at Northwest Halifax High School $1,500 in scholarships for an electrical lineman training program. Hubbel Relat, FUSF' said Fueling U.S. Forward was making an effort to reach minority communities, reported Dailytarheel.com. [10]

“Despite how important this industry is to all of our lives and our economy, the African-American communities and a lot of rural communities in general are underrepresented and left out of this industry,” Relat said. “A lot of the time they are simply not made aware of the job opportunities in the industry.” [10]

June 16, 2016

Hubbel Relat appeared on a panel titled Energy: Changing the Narrative, “presumably meant to change the narrative of climate change to one of energy independence” reported The Nation. [9]

Other panelists included Nancy Pfotenhauer, the president of MediaSpeak Strategies and former director of Koch Industries’ Washington Office, and Karen Steward, Director of Research at Freedom Partners. [9]

March 3, 2016

Hubbel Relat, representing the American Energy Alliance, spoke at CPAC 2016. He spoke about President Obama's carbon plan, contending it was essentially wealth transfer: [4]

“The President's carbon rule, his climate legacy, is fundamentally seeking to transfer wealth from the middle states who rely on affordable energy and have made good energy policy priority and transfer wealth to pay for the bad decisions by states like California and the northeast. […] That's fundamentally what this is–a wealth transfer for states that he likes from states that he does not. ” [2:47:39]