Today, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, released documents demonstrating further connections between the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The NRDC was allegedly instrumental in drafting the EPA's carbon emission rule.

"The EPA is clearly allowing the NRDC to assist in drafting federal regulation, with a heavy-hand in numerous economically destructive policies. This influence is putting American families and future generations on the hook for years of lost opportunity and regulatory burden," said Vitter.

Regarding the proposed regulations for carbon emissions from existing power plants, EPA has repeatedly claimed that the "proposed rule was developed through a transparent process, no one person or group had outsized influence." Yesterday, Sen. Vitter and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, launched an investigation into improper NRDC influence over the EPA. Click here to read more.

Below are individual communications between the EPA and NRDC:

• Click here for the February 2009 email from NRDC President Frances Beinecke to then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson regarding the NRDC's priorities for EPA
• Click here for the June 2009 emails between Dan Lashof, a senior NRDC fellow, and then-Assistant EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy discussing a possible job opportunity
• Click here for the accepted meeting request in April 2011 between Dan Lashof, a senior NRDC fellow, and then-Assistant EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to discuss the proposed regulations for carbon emissions from existing power plants

In July 2013, EPW Republicans released a report entitled, "The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama's EPA," which highlighted the collusion between environmental activists, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and billionaires using large sums of money to influence environmental public policy.

-30-