Power Is Not Political with Frank Macchiarola

Project Vanguard Podcast

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Power Is Not Political with Frank Macchiarola

ACP's chief advocacy officer on why the loudest voices in energy are rarely the most effective ones, and what actually changes a policymaker's mind.

Kevin Doffing

Apr 15, 2026

Energy has a messenger problem. Not a technology problem, not a cost problem, not even a policy problem at its core. The people doing the work and building the projects are winning. The people telling the story are struggling.

Frank Macchiarola has spent 20 years on the advocacy side of energy, first at the American Petroleum Institute and now as Chief Advocacy Officer at American Clean Power. He has worked both sides of the fuel spectrum and both chambers of Congress. When he says the divisions in energy used to be geographic, not partisan, he is speaking from direct experience. And when he says that shift is now the single biggest obstacle to building what the country needs, it carries weight that cable news commentary never will.

Frank is also the first non-veteran to sit down on this podcast. That was intentional. The advocacy and external affairs lane in energy is one veterans should know about, and Frank’s perspective on what actually moves policymakers connects directly to the grassroots work Project Vanguard is building.

One of the sharpest moments in the conversation is Frank’s case that renewables and oil & gas are not actually in market competition right now. Demand growth from AI, data centers, and domestic manufacturing is so large that every resource is needed. The political war between fuels does not match the reality on the ground. Frank lived that reality at API. He is living it now at ACP.

A former boss of his used to share an anecdote from a senator:

“I always vote with my favorite lobbyist until I hear from my constituent.”

That line sits underneath the entire conversation. Who shows up matters more than who has access. Veterans, landowners, frontline workers, local business owners. Those are the voices that stop a legislator in their tracks. Frank explains why, and what ACP’s Power Votes program is doing to put that principle into practice at scale.

We also get into what the external affairs career pathway looks like for veterans and why Frank’s best piece of career advice cuts against most of the guidance people hear during transition.