Here’s an interesting development in the BP political connections story. It turns out that the Obama Administration’s Undersecretary for Science in the U.S. Department of Energy served as chief scientist for BP in London for several years.

Steve Koonin’s biography at the Department of Energy actually mentions his past with the oil giant in the first paragraph:

Dr. Steven E. Koonin was confirmed by the Senate on May 19, 2009 as the second Undersecretary for Science in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Dr. Koonin brings to the post a distinguished career as a university professor and administrator at the California Institute of Technology. He also has experience in the private sector, joining the government from the position of Chief Scientist for BP, plc, based in London.

At BP since 2004, Koonin was responsible for the long-range technology strategy of going ‘beyond petroleum’ to alternative and renewable energy sources, providing technical advice to senior executives, and managing in the firm’s university-based research programs. Koonin played a central role in BP’s establishing the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of California Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This is just the latest link between Democrats and BP. As much as the White House and Congressional Democrats may want to paint Republicans as the advocate group for big oil, it’s pretty clear that Democrats have had no problem accepting the political support and hand-me-down employees from that evil sector, specifically BP.