In the US we call bribery "lobbying" and it is totally legal. Imagine being in that position and knowing you could get a really cushy position on some board and collect a nice paycheck to take care of yourself and your family after doing your time at the EPA.

In reality lobbying is not nearly as cynical as that and I have no doubts the majority of lobbyists truly believe their bullshit. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

This effect has actually been well studied (see studies on "cultural cognition")

In the end its a larger systemic issue and you can't ever really find a specific individual to blame it on. I'd love it if all we had to do was fire the right person. But the the reality is that we need much larger structural changes to prevent stuff like this form happening