State Rep. secretly copies Enbridge consultant on emails

The fracked gas lobby knows no shame and, apparently, neither do the politicians that they have co-opted.

Remember, representatives and senators are there to represent the public, not the industry. Keeping in mind that Governor Baker's most recent climate change bonding bill leaves that door open for fracked gas to be considered "clean energy," it is no wonder that Rep. Howitt consulted with the lobbyist in how to respond to a constituent. The public is taken out of the equation completely. How nice.

Itai Vardi details how Rep. Howitt blind-carbon-copied William Ryan, lobbyist and Enbridge consultant, on an email with a constituent. The constituent had contacted Rep. Howitt over concerns related to Governor Baker's climate change bonding bill. 

"Ryan appears to have accidentally outed himself on the thread by replying all, using the same email address he has previously used to register as a lobbyist with the state. “Perfect response to her, Steve,” he wrote, adding a link to a study that he said “really does a good job if [sic] explaining the power problem we have and how problematic the inadequate supply of natural gas is to our region.”' (Itai Vardi, Huffington Post)