Issa staffer joins Institute for Energy Research

A staffer for House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has joined the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a pro-drilling nonprofit group.

IER said Monday that Benjamin Cole, who served as an investigative analyst for the Republican staff of the committee, will serve as the organization’s new communications director.

Cole previously spent 13 years as an evangelical clergyman for the Southern Baptist Convention, IER said.

IER describes itself as a nonpartisan organization that believes “freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenge.”

The group has attacked White House energy policies and backs GOP-led calls to substantially expand offshore oil-and-gas drilling.

IER has also been critical of Environmental Protection Agency clean-air regulations and the Obama administration’s handling of the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra.