Dive Summary:

• Missouri Representative Jo Ann Emerson is leaving the House in February to become president and CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
• The NRECA is primarily known for its continued opposition to many of the Environmental Protection Agency's pollution rules; the association has also contributed almost $80,000 to Emerson throughout her political career.
• Emerson, who has been a Republican lawmaker in Missouri for 16 years, won't be legally permitted to lobby her congressional colleagues for a year after leaving office, but can serve in a leadership capacity for the NRECA.

From the article:

The rural electrical association has been a consistent big spender on lobbying too: It has devoted more than $2.9 million on federal lobbying efforts every year since 2003, according to federal disclosure records. It reported spending $691,000 to lobby on a slew of issues in the first quarter of this year alone.

The association has supported numerous pieces of legislation to pull back EPA regulatory authority, including the agency’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases and coal ash. ...