Energy nominee has long history with industry
Updated 9:16 am, Tuesday, April 2, 2013
President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Energy Department, Ernest Moniz, consulted last year for BP and for General Electric Co. while serving on the boards of other energy and investment companies, according to newly released financial disclosure forms.
Although the Senate appears likely to confirm Moniz as energy secretary, the financial revelations could be extra fodder for critics who have blasted his ties to the oil and gas industry.
Moniz's financial portfolio, worth at least $4.6 million, includes holdings in the San Francisco-based electrical grid consultancy Nexant, where he served on the board of directors from 2002 to 2011.
Moniz also has at least $700,003 in stock in the security detection and X-ray screening company American Science & Engineering, where he has been on the board of directors since 2002.
He also has spent two years on the board of directors of Fairfax, Va.-based energy and environment consulting firm ICF International, amassing as much as $200,000 in stock in the process.
In a letter filed with his financial disclosure forms, Moniz pledged to retire as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and resign from ICF and AS&E, divesting himself of unvested restricted stock holdings in the firms.
Moniz also committed to resigning from positions on boards or consulting for Angeleno Group, General Electric, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, NGP Energy Technology Partners and Riverstone Equity Holdings. He previously stepped down from advisory positions with BP and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
Moniz vowed not to participate in any issues that substantially involve MIT and the companies and committed to selling other financial holdings, including his private stock in Nexant.
Because presidents often choose candidates with deep knowledge and experience in their subject areas, it is not uncommon for Cabinet nominees to have financial holdings or past business with companies that could be affected by decisions in their executive posts.
And Moniz has a long history working on energy issues, not just at MIT, where he has been a faculty member since 1973, but also as an energy undersecretary during the Clinton administration. As founding director of the MIT Energy Initiative, Moniz has since 2006 been at least tangentially connected to nearly 800 research projects on topics including nanotechnology, renewable energy, carbon management and batteries.
The MIT Energy Initiative is funded partially by BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Aramco, Chevron Corp., Siemens, Duke Energy and other companies. Last year, Moniz drew a $304,168 salary from the university.
Moniz also earned $5,850 from BP before his seven-year consultant work for the oil company ended last March. He earned $10,000 from General Electric, where he has spent five years consulting on green issues.
Since 2005, Moniz also has been a member of the strategic advisory board for venture capital firm NGP Energy Technology Partners and, since 2008, a consultant for the investment firm Riverstone Equity Holdings.
Environmentalists have raised concerns with Moniz's industry ties, his support for nuclear power and his previous enthusiasm for natural gas as a cleaner-burning bridge fuel that could provide electricity while the U.S. moves to renewable alternatives. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology are driving the boom in domestic natural gas production, and Moniz has said that the environmental concerns associated with the practices are manageable.
Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food and Water Watch, described Moniz as a "cheerleader for exploiting our reserves of natural gas using a highly controversial and polluting practice known as hydraulic fracturing."
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is set to hold Moniz's confirmation hearing on April 9.