Campus Politics as a Training Ground

The advisory group includes, among others, Tommy G. Thompson, former secretary of health and human services in the Bush administration; Rene Rodriguez, head of the Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons; and GOP strategist-consultant Tucker Eskew .

Ron Pollack , executive director of Families USA, said his group "is looking for an amalgam of solutions" -- private and public sector -- to help increase access to health care. He also noted that the consumer organization is almost fully funded by foundations and not the health-care industry.

Recharge for the Green Team

It's hard to go out of business in Washington. The National Commission on Energy Policy is the latest group to find that out.

The commission -- a bipartisan group of energy industry officials, environmentalists and academics -- produced a report in 2004 that called for mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, tougher fuel-economy standards and the promotion of renewable energy and oil exploration. The members intended to close up shop after Congress passed energy legislation last year, which they said included much of what they had recommended.

But, due to popular demand, the commission is staying put and bringing on new folks to help continue the fight for policies to deal with climate change, oil security and new energy infrastructure.

"We were surprised by our own relevance," said Jason Grumet , executive director.

The new people: Robert E. Grady of Carlyle Venture Partners and a former top official of the Office of Management and Budget; Frank Keating , CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers and former governor of Oklahoma; Richard A. Meserve , president of the Carnegie Institution and former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and Richard L. Schmalensee , dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Also, new co-counsels to the commission: David Conover , recently principal deputy assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the Department of Energy, and Eric Washburn , former legislative director for ex-Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle (S.D.).

Here and There

Budget specialist Stanley Collender has left Financial Dynamics , the business communications company, for Qorvis Communications . Collender is a veteran of House and Senate budget committee staffs.

Andrew Kauders , senior adviser to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus, will be joining the PodestaMattoon lobby shop.