Government Relations & Public Policy

Founded by former Congressional and Executive branch staff in 1977, Van Ness Feldman professionals have been involved in every major debate on energy policy and environmental policy for over three decades.

Our founders’ vision was to provide a unique approach to legal and public policy practice in Washington, D.C. – one based on substantive expertise and deep experience with the subject matter and not just on “insider” access to regulatory agencies and legislators.  We have not wavered from this vision in over 30 years. 

Clients, including leading energy and industrial companies, financial institutions and investment funds, municipalities, trade associations, and coalitions, rely on the firm for its substantive expertise, strategic policy guidance, and legislative advocacy on cutting-edge matters.  We are also active in helping clients secure federal financial support, either through appropriations or other funding vehicles.  Validating the firm’s unique value proposition, U.S. News/Best Lawyers placed the firm in its top tier for Washington, D.C. Government Relations practices.

The lawyers and lobbyists who comprise our bipartisan team have served as legal counsel and policy advisors to the members of Congress and Congressional committees, White House staff, and Presidential appointees to Federal agencies in both Democratic and Republican Administrations that developed many of our nation’s most important energy, environmental, and natural resources laws. 

With the current administration and Congress focused on transitioning the U.S. to a clean energy economy, the issues on which Van Ness Feldman’s Government Relations practice serves its clients have never been more complex – or more critical.  Our lawyers and policy professionals are significantly involved in all of the current legislative and federal agency discussions on issues such as climate change and EPA regulation, clean energy standards, energy efficiency and smart grid, energy security, health care, pipeline safety, offshore energy resources, nuclear energy policy, carbon capture and storage, biofuels, access to Alaska’s vast natural resources and energy supply, and others.