--Ernest Moniz, ICF International director, would step down if
confirmed
--Watchdog group: Moniz downplayed industry connections
--Moniz backers say his work has been unbiased
By Ryan Tracy
WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama's pick for energy secretary
owned shares in an energy consultancy that has worked for
government agencies and the oil and gas industry, according to
financial filings.
Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist who is Mr. Obama's nominee to
head the Department of Energy, sits on the board of directors of
ICF International Inc. (ICFI), which consulted for the department
on the potential of energy-efficient technologies and did a study
measuring the benefits of exporting U.S. natural gas for the
American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry group.
Mr. Moniz's favorable view of natural gas has made some
environmental watchdogs skeptical of his nomination, though a
number of environmental groups have praised the choice. His views
on natural gas also may help him gain support from lawmakers who
support drilling, and his position on the issue fits with that of
Mr. Obama, who has touted the newfound U.S. supply of gas as an
economic boon.
As of June 1 last year, Mr. Moniz owned more than 10,000 shares
of ICF, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. The
shares would be worth about $277,000 at Thursday's midday price of
about $27. Roughly half of the shares vest later this year, the
filing said, meaning Mr. Moniz won't be able to sell them until
then.
An Obama administration official said Mr. Moniz will follow the
path of other cabinet nominees in resigning from the ICF board upon
confirmation by the Senate and forfeiting or divesting the shares
he owns. He would recuse himself from dealings with ICF, the
official said.
The Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit critical of
the natural-gas-drilling industry, issued a report Wednesday saying
Mr. Moniz should have more publicly disclosed his and other
researchers' ties to the oil and gas industry as part of the
rollout of a 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology report
entitled "The Future of Natural Gas." Mr. Moniz oversaw the report
as director of MIT's Energy Initiative.
After taking the position on ICF's board in June 2011, Mr. Moniz
presented the findings of the report to Congress the following
month with a statement that didn't mention funding from the oil and
gas industry. The report endorsed unfettered exports of natural gas
and said the environmental impacts of extracting gas "are
challenging but manageable."
The Public Accountability Initiative said the MIT report "was
far from being independent of industry," pointing out that oil and
gas companies helped fund the MIT office that wrote it.
Two other academics who participated in the MIT study served in
prominent industry roles: MIT Professor John Deutch sits on the
board of natural-gas exporter Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG), and Tony
Meggs, an engineer who helped oversee the report, was recently an
executive at natural-gas driller Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM,
TLM.T).
"It appears that Moniz did nothing to manage or disclose these
conflicts of interest, and that says a lot about the way he handles
industry relationships," said Kevin Connor, a spokesman for the
Public Accountability Initiative.
Mr. Meggs couldn't be reached for comment, and Mr. Moniz and Mr.
Deutch weren't available.
Victoria Ekstrom, a spokeswoman for the MIT Energy Initiative,
said, "The notion that these findings are developed based on
anything other than the unbiased research of MIT researchers is
false." She said the MIT report also called for the gas industry to
be transparent about its drilling practices and noted that MIT
Energy Initiative researchers are also studying nuclear and solar
power.
A statement from Clark Stevens, a White House spokesman, said
Mr. Moniz's work at MIT "demonstrates his ability to work
collaboratively with a wide spectrum of stakeholders on a broad
range of energy issues." The statement also cited "his work to
examine the role a range of energy sources and technologies can
play in solving our energy and climate challenges" as evidence that
he is the "right candidate" for the energy secretary job.
As energy secretary, Mr. Moniz would oversee federal research
programs and nuclear-weapon stockpiles. He would have a prominent
voice in setting the administration's energy policies.
Regulation of natural-gas drilling is under the purview of other
agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of the Interior.
Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@dowjones.com
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