House Democrat on climate change caucus rakes in cash from oil and gas investments
A Democratic congresswoman who is part of a congressional caucus aiming to fight the effects of climate change is earning major profits on her oil and gas stock purchases in recent years, according to records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Lois Frankel is a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, which has targeted the fracking industry and aims “to solve the important issues facing our country because of climate change.”
A Democratic congresswoman who is part of a congressional caucus aiming to fight the effects of climate change is earning major profits on her oil and gas stock purchases in recent years, according to records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Lois Frankel is a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, which has targeted the fracking industry and aims “to solve the important issues facing our country because of climate change.”
“We expect all Congressional leaders to adhere to a fossil-free pledge,” she added, referring to an agreement some Democratic lawmakers have made to reject $200 or more in donations from oil, gas, and coal industry executives or related lobbyists and political action committees.
Between March 2020 and December 2022, Frankel bought up to $60,000 worth of Diamondback Energy, a Texas-based oil and natural gas company that pulled in over $6.7 billion in revenue in 2021. She has also, separately, sold up to $30,000 worth of the stock, disclosures show.
Diamondback Energy’s stock is up by over 15% in the last year, sitting at more than $151 per share as of this writing. Frankel’s purchases combined were struck at roughly $105 per share, according to filings.
Frankel also purchased up to $45,000 worth of ConocoPhillips between March 2020 and July 2022. In 2019, the Guardian said the multinational Houston-based Hydrocarbon exploration company was responsible for 0.91% of global greenhouse gas emissions from 1998 to 2015.
ConocoPhillips is currently trading at over $124 per share, up by over 10% since last year. Frankel’s trades were struck at an average of over $57 per share combined, filings show.
“These investments are seriously concerning and show the deep hold that oil, gas, and coal interests have over our financial and political system,” Colin Rees, political director for Oil Change U.S., an anti-fossil fuels group, told the Washington Examiner.
The congresswoman told the Washington Examiner that her trades are “managed independently by a money manager who buys and sells stocks at his discretion.”
Still, if Frankel was serious about targeting the fossil fuels industry through her pro-green energy stance, she would communicate to her money manager that she doesn’t want to broadly invest in oil and gas stocks, according to Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank.
Read the full article on the Washington Examiner.