Pombo's Clear-Cut Path to the Revolving Door

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"Former [U.S.] House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo has joined a lobbying and public relations firm that backed his attempts to rework the Endangered Species Act and open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to oil drilling," reports Josh Richman. Pombo is joining Pac/West Communications as a "senior partner," and will "split his time between Sacramento and other Pac/West offices." Pac/West headed the "Save Our Species Alliance," which sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act. Last year, Pac/West won a $3 million contract from the Alaska state government, "to coordinate a campaign for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration," which Pombo has supported. At Pac/West, Pombo said he will be "working with grass-roots groups ... looking at a lot of the issues that I worked with in Congress -- resource issues, agriculture issues," but won't be lobbying his former colleagues in Congress. Pombo declined to say what Pac/West was paying him, but joked, "I'm doing OK."