Tim Wigley is the President of the Western Energy Alliance, an oil and natural gas trade association focusing on federal legislative, regulatory, environmental, public lands and other policy issues. WEA represents the voice of the Western oil and natural gas industry in a variety of ways.

On this week’s show, Tim shares with us his insights from working his entire life in the world of public policy, campaigns, and natural resource advocacy. It’s a rare child who knows at six years-old he wants to be a lobbyist, yet that’s who Tim was, and it set the course for his life.

So, once you’re a lobbyist, what does that look like? How do you react when someone spits on you at a public meeting? What do you do when activists are sitting in trees throwing bottles of urine at members of Congress on a tour of a forest? What happens when it’s no longer enough to attack the industry you represent, but to start attacking you personally? We tackle all those questions and more in this week’s episode.

Additionally, we chat about the realities of oil and gas development in Colorado, how the low price of both commodities has affected his membership, how he navigates conflicts within his own membership, and the importance of oil and natural gas in our daily lives.

And if that’s not enough for you, we spend some time talking about his band Mud Puppy, why I immediately thought of Tim when Glenn Frey died, how Tim might fix the contentiousness and partisanship plaguing our entire government, and who Tim thinks will be the nominees for President. This is one of the more all-over-the-map episodes of the podcast of all-time, and you’ll enjoy skipping from topic to topic with us.

You can download the episode below, or get it on iTunes or Stitcher. Rate and review us while you’re there.

This episode is sponsored by 4 Degre.es, and is a production of Deft Communications.

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