A letter signed by 100 individuals (with a few groups represented) under the umbrella of Americans Against Fracking, sent to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The letter requests the Senators to not confirm MIT professor Dr. Ernet Moniz, claiming (laughably) he has close ties to the oil and gas industry.

1. April 9, 2013
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
U.S. Senate
Re: Secretary of Energy Nominee Dr. Ernest Moniz
Dear Committee Members,
We are writing to express our deep concern over President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Ernest Moniz to
the position of Secretary of Energy.
Dr. Moniz’s close ties to the oil and gas industry, and in particular his failure to disclose them while
leading an industry-funded and ultimately industry-friendly report published in 2011 by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative (MITEI) entitled “The Future of Natural Gas,”
lead us to question his nomination.
According to a new report by the Public Accountability Initiative1, the MITEI, which Dr. Moniz directs,
has in the last seven years, received pledges of over $145 million from oil and gas companies alone.
Among them, BP has pledged the most, dedicating $50 million. Pledging $25 million each are Eni, Saudi
Aramco and Shell. The PAI report adds that other significant contributors to the MITEI include Chevron,
the oil and gas services company Schlumberger and Hess Corporation.
As an individual, Dr. Moniz has performed various consulting and advisory roles within the oil and gas
industry, in some cases for financial gain.2 He
received
a
stipend
while
on BP’s Technology Advisory
Council between 2005 and 2011. He is a trustee of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research
Center (KAPSARC) in Saudi Arabia. He is paid for strategic advice by NGP Energy Technology Partners
and Riverstone Equity Holdings, LP., two investment firms with large stakes in the oil and gas industry.
He has more than $100,000 in stock in and serves on the board of ICF International, which has a growing
energy business that counts the America’s Natural Gas Alliance among its clients. Moniz has also served
on the boards of the Gas Technology Institute and the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for
America, which both promote the natural gas industry.
It is therefore not surprising that, as director of MIT’s Energy Initiative, Dr. Moniz has been an outspoken
proponent of unconventional natural gas development, particularly shale gas extracted by the
controversial technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
In July 2011, not long after the first of now many peer-reviewed scientific articles that call into question
the purported climate benefits of burning shale gas instead of coal for electricity, given so-called fugitive
methane emissions, Dr. Moniz testified to this committee. He emphasized “In the U.S., a combination of
demand reduction and displacement of coal-fired power by gas-fired generation is the lowest cost way to
reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50%. For more stringent CO2 emissions reductions, further de-
carbonization of the energy sector will be required; but natural gas provides a cost-effective bridge to
such a low-carbon future.”
1
Public
Accountability
Initiative.
“Public
Partner
or
Industry
Puppet:
How
MIT’s
influential
study
of
fracking
was
authored,
funded,
and
released
by
oil
and
gas
industry
insiders.”
March
2013.
2
Bender,
Bryan.
“Obama’s
Energy
pick
discloses
industry
ties.“
Boston
Globe.
March
30,
2013;
Public
Accountability
Initiative.
“Public
Partner
or
Industry
Puppet:
How
MIT’s
influential
study
of
fracking
was
authored,
funded,
and
released
by
oil
and
gas
industry
insiders.”
March
2013.

2. Adding the imprimatur of MIT to the notion of natural gas as a “bridge fuel,” this bottom-line assessment
did the oil and gas industry a great service. But the statement is only accurate in that Dr. Moniz added the
qualifier “cost-effective” and skirted the key issue raised by the peer-reviewed research on the climate
impact of using shale gas to generate electricity: the fact that relying on shale gas entails significant
emissions not just of CO2 but also of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas.
Now, according to the IEA, a scenario of increased global dependence on natural gas would, by 2035,
increase the global average temperature by about 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit, even with strong efforts to curb
emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane. Dr. Moniz only mentions CO2 emissions reductions, not
CO2 equivalent emissions reductions which would also account for methane.
With this in mind, we urge you to ask Dr. Moniz during his confirmation hearing what precisely he means
by a “cost-effective bridge” and how short he believes this bridge needs to be if we are to live up to our
obligation to future generations and avoid such a catastrophic level of global warming.
Also in his testimony before this committee in July 2011, Dr. Moniz referred more generally to the
environmental and public health issues of air and water pollution from fracking as “challenging but
manageable.” He added, “In all instances the risks can be mitigated to acceptable levels through
appropriate regulation and oversight.”
Yet again, this bottom-line assessment does the shale gas industry a great service: it gives the imprimatur
of MIT to the notion that fracking can be done safely. This is troubling given the fact that the U.S.
Government Accountability Office and the Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention have since deemed the public health impacts of fracking to be understudied.
In his testimony, Dr. Moniz states his opinion that the risks are “challenging but manageable” without
making clear what he means by “acceptable levels” of risk, and without coming to terms with the unlikely
prospect of actually achieving “appropriate regulation and oversight,” especially in the face of certain
opposition from the well-heeled oil and gas industry. We urge you to ask him to make these caveats clear
during Dr. Moniz’s confirmation hearing.
In closing, recent revelations about Dr. Moniz’s extensive ties to the oil and gas industry, including large
financial stakes, cast new light on statements he has made promoting unconventional natural gas
development as “cost-effective bridge.” This casts serious doubt about Dr. Moniz ability to be an
independent leader of the Department of Energy at time when we must rapidly remake our energy system
and end our dependence on all fossil fuels.
For this reason, we urge you to vote against his nomination.
Sincerely,
Advisory Board Members
Josh Fox
Mark Ruffalo
Natalie Merchant
Sandra Steingraber

3. Organizations: Wes Gillingham
Program Director
350.org
Phil Aroneanu Center for Sustainable Rural Communities
US Campaign Director Robert Nied
Member- Board of Directors
350 NJ
Matt Smith Citizens Against Drilling on Public Land
Coordinator Mariah Urueta
Co-Founder
Advocates for Morris
Murray Bell Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community
Paul Ferrazzi
Allamakee County Protectors, Inc. Executive Director
Mary Abbas
Secretary Citizens for a Healthy Community
Jim Ramey
Antifracking Task Force, WNY Peace Center Director
Frank Gage
Chair Citizens for Huerfano County
Keli Kringel
Athens County Fracking Action Network President
Heather Cantino
Citizens for Huerfano County
Baldwin Hills Oil Watch Keli Kringel
Stephen Murray President
Director
City of Binghamton Residents Against
Beacon Climate Action Hydrofracking
Amanda Means Isaac Silberman-Gorn
Organizer Director
Berks Gas Truth ClimateMama
Karen Feridun Harriet Shugarman
Founder Executive Director
Boulder County Citizens for Community Rights Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
N Hall Sara Kent
Treasurer Programs Director
Breast Cancer Action Colden Well Being
Karuna Jaggar Jeanette Geckler
Executive Director
Concerned Burlington Neighbors
Capital District Against Fracking Suzy Winkler
Siobhan Burke Co-Founder
Co-founder
Concerned Citizens of Danby
Catskill Mountainkeeper Anne Klingensmith

4. Co-chair Director
CONCERNED CITIZENS OF LAKE TWP Environmental Action
Christine Borello Drew Hudson
President Executive Director
Concerned Citizens Ohio Erie Rising
Gwen Fischer Jennifer Palazzolo
Professor President
Concerned Worcester Citizens Essex Passaic (NJ) Greens
Clark Rhoades Ted Glick
coordinator
Coshocton Citizens for Truth About Fracking
Nick Teti Faith Communities Together
Organizer Kristina Kistler
FaCT Coordinator
CWA Local 1081
David Weiner Family Farm Defenders
President John Peck
Executive Director
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Barbara Arrindell Food & Water Watch
Director Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director
Defenders of the Earth Outreach Mission
Rev. Monica Beasley-Martin Frack Action
Founder Julia Walsh
Campaign Director, Founder
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Maya van Rossum Frack Files Weld
Delaware Riverkeeper Robert Winkler
Founder
Democracy For America
Jim Dean Frack Free Catskills
Chairman Susan Rosenberg
Founder
Don't Frack Broomfield
Laura Fronckiewicz Frack Free Colorado
Co-Founder Neshama Abraham
Founder
Don't Frack Michigan
Joanne Cromley Frack Free Genesee
Co-Chair Cynthia Carestio
Co-founder
Elmirans & Friends Against Fracking
Colleen Boland Frack Free Loveland
Sharon J. Carlisle
Environment and Human Rights Advisory Frack Free Ohio
Dr Tom Kerns Bill Baker

5. Organizer Marilyn Hunt
Director
Fracking Truth Alliance of Lawrence and
Mercer Counties Local Clean Energy Alliance
Carrie Hahn Al Weinrub
Coordinator Coordinator
Friends of Butternuts M.U.S.T. (Mothers United for Sustainable
Teresa Winchester Technologies)
Public Relations Liaison Tanyette Colon
Founder
Friends of the Au Gres-Rifle
Jacque Rose Madison Branch of WILPF
Co-Founder Mary Sanderson
Grassroots Environmental Education Make CC Safe
Patricia Wood Dr Suzanne De Benedittis
Executive Director President
Green Environmental Coalition Marbletown Citizens Defense Against Fracking
Victoria Hennessy Jill Obrig
President Leader
Groton Resource Awareness Coalition Marcellus Protest
David Kalb Briget Shields
Media Rep Outreach Coordinator
Gloria Forouzan, Member
Guernsey County Citizens Support on Drilling
Issues Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation
Greg Pace Peggy Case
President
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Frank Tamborello Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition
Executive Director Liz Starke
Coordinator
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Adam Mason Middlefield Neighbors
State Policy Organizing Director Kelly Branigan
Founding Member
Kent County Water Conservation
Brian Keeley Montgomery County Young Democrats
Spokesperson Dave Kunes
President
Lakewood Fractivists
Eleanor J. Jefferson Mountain Watershed Association, Inc.
Beverly Braverman
Lehigh Valley Gas Truth Executive Director
Julie Ann Edgar
Organizer
MRAD (Maryland Residents Against Drilling)
Liberty and Justice WV Kristina Fedorov

6. Peter Hudiburg
New Jersey Sustainable Collegiate Partners Founder
Amanda J Nesheiwat
Director Progress Ohio
Bret Thompson
NJ State Industrial Union Council Policy Director
Carol Gay
President Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
Russell Greene
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New
York, Inc. Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica
Kate Mendenhall Mountains
Executive Director Dorothy Reik
President
North Jersey Pipeline Walkers
Diane Wexler Protect All Children's Environment
Co-Founder Elizabeth M.T. O'Nan
Director
Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS)
Dave Kraft R-CAUSE (Rochesterians Concerned About
Director Unsafe Shale-gas Extraction)
Anna Sears
Olive Defense Against Fracking Co-Founder
George Koury
Education Coordinator Responsible Drilling Alliance
Robert Cross
Oregon Citizens Against the Pipelines President
Paul Sansone
Founder Rivertown Coalition for Clean Air and Clean
Water
Organic Consumers Association Carol Parowski
Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq. President
Political Director
Rochester Defense Against Fracking
Our Health, Our Future, Our Longmont Toby Stover
Kaye Fissinger Organizer
President
SAFE: Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Arizona our Environment
Barbara Warren Tabitha Tripp
Chair of Board
Sane Energy Project
Pikes peak Alliance for the Future Clare Donohue
Laurel Biedermann Co-Founder
Organizer
Save Pennsylvania's Lands Act to Safeguard our
Plains Alliance for Clean Air and Water Heritage
Robert Wikler Diane Siegmund
Administrator
Society for the Preservation of Democracy and
Plymouth Friends of Clean Water Human Rights

7. Robert C. Laity Founder
Founding President
WATERSPIRIT
Southeast Environmental Task Force Sr. Suzanne Golas, csjp
Tom Shepherd Director
Southern Cayuga Anti-Fracking Alliance Westchester for Change
Michael Gorr Susan Van Dolsen
Coordinator Co-Organizer
Southwest Ohio No Frack Forum Western New York Peace Center, Inc.
Joanne Gerson Charley Bowman
Chair Interim Executive Director
Stop the Frack Attack On IL Western NY Drilling Defense
Dr. Lora Chamberlain Rita Yelda
Organizer Founder
Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy What the Frack?! Arapahoe
Development (SACRED) Sonia Skakich-Scrima
Wendy Robinson Founder
Founder
Williams County Alliance
The Plains Alliance for Clean Air and Water Shery Fleming
Robert Winkler Chairperson
Founder
Womens' International League for Peace and
Tour De Frack Freedom (WILPF)
Jason Bell Lib Hutchby
Co-Founder
Transition Culver City
Michelle Weiner
Director
United for Action
David Braun
President
Village of Cooperstown NY
James R Dean
Trustee
Water Committee of the Triangle Branch of
Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom
John Wagner
Water Equality
Daniel Morrissey