george d banks

<div class="share-tab-img share-buttons share-trigger" style="max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; overflow: hidden;"><div class="share-media-panel"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">oops, pretty sure same guy a David</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.energyandpolicy.org/george-david-banks-trump-wind-power/</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>George David Banks, a top advisor to President Trump on climate change, once worked as the “D.C. liaison” for the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED), a coalition of “individuals, organizations, communities, and businesses” founded by the anti-wind activist and climate skeptic John Droz, Jr.Droz received national attention in 2012 for his role in drafting a <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/anti-wind-groups-coordinate-with-fossil-fuel-funded-organizations/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">“National PR Campaign Proposal”</a> to “… constructively influence state and national wind energy policies.” The “confidential” draft plan called for “joining forces” with a number of powerful special interest groups backed by the Koch brothers. It was soon followed by <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3943777-D-C-Energy-Advocates-Conference-Participants.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a February 2012 meeting</a>between local wind power opponents, including Droz, and representatives of some of these same Koch-backed groups.  Droz is equally well known for <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-man-who-makes-sea-lev/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">his role in fooling state lawmakers</a> in North Carolina into a passing a <a href="http://www.cc.com/video-clips/w6itwj/the-colbert-report-the-word---sink-or-swim" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">controversial moratorium</a> on the use of sea level rise protections in coastal planning. Droz often <a href="http://wiseenergy.org/potpourri/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">describes himself</a> as an “independent physicist” and he does hold degrees in physics that he earned back in the 1960s and 1970s. However, <a href="http://pweb.westelcom.com/brvmug/AREResume.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">according to Droz’s own resume</a>, his professional career since 1979 has been in real estate, where he has made enough money to <a href="http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/JohnDroz_Energy_CV.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">pursue other interests like bashing wind power</a> on the side. Droz is <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2014/06/25/media-advisory-john-droz-is-not-a-climate-chang/199886" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">not an expert on climate change</a>, and he has, in fact, embraced unscientific conspiracy theories.“One insightful observer commented that the whole AGW hypothesis was never about climate anyway — but rather it is ultimately about control (of population, lifestyle, energy use, etc.),” Droz’s <a href="http://pweb.westelcom.com/brvmug/WindPower/GlobalWarmingPosition.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">official position on global warming</a> concluded (AGW is short for anthropogenic, or human-caused, global warming).As AWED’s director of D.C. operations in 2012 and 2013, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/unusual-coalitions-clash-over-wind-energy-tax-credit/2012/09/20/fd775f1a-01c7-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html?utm_term=.b4630cc0cc06" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Banks worked as part of what the Washington Post dubbed an “unusual coalition”</a> that pressured Congress to allow a key federal tax credit for wind power to expire. The coalition included the utility Exelon and Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity and Freedomworks, as well as <a href="http://www.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Wind-PTC-full-page-ad.lowres.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a number of local anti-wind groups</a>. <div id="attachment_5152" class="wp-caption aligncenter no-underline" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px auto 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 458px; clear: both;">[img]
The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions and Freedomworks used social media and false narratives to manufacture opposition to the wind Production Tax Credit.</div>Around the same time he was working for AWED, Banks was also a <a href="http://archive.fo/OxBF7#selection-975.0-975.279" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">policy advisor to Heartland Institute</a>, which was working with the American Legislative Exchange Council and other Koch-backed groups to use “model legislation” to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-skeptic-group-works-to-reverse-renewable-energy-mandates/2012/11/24/124faaa0-3517-11e2-9cfa-e41bac906cc9_story.html?utm_term=.116a720db6fb" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">repeal another key driver of wind power growth</a>: state renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Droz was already working with ALEC and other groups with ties to the Koch brothers to attack <a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2011/12/climate-science-deniers-join-forces-against-nc-renewable-energy-program.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">North Carolina’s RPS</a>, and in 2013 he <a href="http://pweb.westelcom.com/brvmug/WindPower/FixingRPS.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">worked to recruit wind power opponents</a> in other states to the campaign.<h4 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 25.2344px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 1.2;">Who paid George David Banks to work for the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions?</h4>A <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/27/white-house-national-economic-council-director-announces-senior-staff" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">brief bio</a> of Banks put out by the White House press office when he was appointed by President Trump to serve as a special assistant for international energy and environment made no mention of AWED or the Heartland Institute, nor does his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-david-banks-96b2635" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">LinkedIn profile</a>.What Banks does reveal on his LinkedIn profile is that at the same time he was working for AWED in 2012 and 2013, he was also the managing director of Battle Group, LLC, a:<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 4px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(52, 62, 71); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; margin: 1em 0px 1.4em; outline: 0px; padding: 20px 0px 0px 67.2813px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: " line-height="line-height" position="position" relative="relative">“Strategic consultancy that works to bridge and integrate state and local advocacy efforts with free market lobbying campaigns at the national level, focusing on energy and environment issues.”</blockquote>A consultancy is, by definition, a company that gets paid to provide professional advice or services, yet AWED and its founder John Droz – a <a href="http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/opinion03/john-droz-answers-to-questions-about-wind-projects-20160909" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">self-described</a> “independent physicist and energy expert” – have long sought to portray their anti-wind efforts as powered by volunteers and free of financial ties to the fossil fuel and utility industries.“All of our efforts (including this website) are from donated time and effort on the part of committed citizens,” AWED said on its <a href="http://ptcfacts.info/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">PTCFacts.info</a> website, set up to oppose <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/wind-gets-production-tax-credit-for-another-year-with-crucial-language-chan" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">the 2012 extension of the wind production tax credit</a>. “We have received zero funding from any source for our efforts to promote better energy policies.”“Everyone involved with AWED (including me) is an unpaid volunteer, who is committed to Science-based energy policies,” John Droz, the founder of AWED, told the Energy and Policy Institute via email in 2017.“So the short answer is that Dave was paid nothing for any efforts he contributed to promoting Science,” Droz said. (Banks often goes by his middle name, David or Dave)However, asked if other “individual, organizations, or companies may have been paying Banks for his work on wind energy issues while he was a ‘volunteer’ for AWED,” Droz pleaded ignorance.“I have no knowledge of any other groups that Dave was connected with during the period of time he volunteered for AWED,” said Droz.Banks <a href="https://sccefile.scc.virginia.gov/Business/S4174399" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">started the Battle Group</a> and worked as <a href="http://archive.fo/OxBF7" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">AWED’s director of D.C. operations</a> after a 2011-2012 stint on the staff of Republican Senator James Inhofe, where he <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/inhofe-staffer-asks-oil-lobbyist-partners-for-better-coordination-and-communication-dd4a8856677/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">sparked controversy</a> with <a href="http://d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/Executive_Order_Memo.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a leaked memo</a> that used the words “our partners” to describe the oil industry.Just after Banks left Inhofe’s staff, <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/energy/story/2012/08/inhofe-aide-exits-epw-013570" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Politico Pro</a> ($) asked Banks about his ties with the lobbyist C. Boyden Gray, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity. Here is how Banks responded:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 4px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(52, 62, 71); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; margin: 1em 0px 1.4em; outline: 0px; padding: 20px 0px 0px 67.2813px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: " line-height="line-height" position="position" relative="relative">“I was kind of on the circuit with some of these guys, but there’s obviously a limit of what you can do in the Senate,” he said, noting a desire to do media appearances and speeches. “I’d like to do more of that if possible.”</blockquote>In 2009-2011, Banks had worked as a partner for Boyden Gray & Associates, where according to his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-david-banks-96b2635" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">LinkedIn profile</a> he was a registered lobbyist for Constellation Energy, which <a href="http://www.exeloncorp.com/newsroom/Pages/pr_20120312_EXC_MergerClose.aspx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">merged with Exelon in 2012</a>. While Banks was working with AWED in 2012, C. Boyden Gray was <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=86013D81-E8B4-442F-A16B-90FA32C5926D&filingTypeID=78" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">lobbying against the wind PTC</a> for Exelon, which <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-us-needs-a-networked-energy-grid/2012/10/11/e2c14c92-13da-11e2-be82-c3411b7680a9_story.html?utm_term=.9df8ad95a5b2" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">along with Gray</a> publicly <a href="http://www.exeloncorp.com/newsroom/Pages/pr_20121213_EXC_WINDPTC.aspx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">campaigned for the PTC’s immediate expiration</a>. Gray also served at the time on <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/c-boyden-gray-tobacco-tea-party-and-dirty-energy/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">the board of directors for Freedomworks</a>, which partnered with Banks and AWED to manufacture public opposition to the wind PTC.<div id="attachment_5153" class="wp-caption aligncenter no-underline" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px auto 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 567px; clear: both;">[img]
George David Banks tweeted links to Freedomworks’ attacks on the wind production tax credit.</div>Exelon also for several years <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/exelon-pepco-merger-exelon-history-anti-clean-energy-lobbying/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">funded the Koch-backed American Energy Alliance’s</a> attacks on the wind PTC. This group was another member of the “unusual coalition” that Banks and AWED <a href="http://www.rstreet.org/news-release/dec-13-press-conference-on-ending-the-wind-production-tax-credit/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">campaigned alongside</a> in 2012 and 2013.Exelon did not respond to a request for comment on whether it made any payments to Banks or the Battle Group during the time period in question.Droz’s 2012 proposal for a national PR campaign by local anti-wind activists had called for “joining forces” with a number of national Koch-backed groups. Sure enough, it was Christine Harbin of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity that organized <a href="https://noauglaizewind.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/wind-ptc.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a 2012 letter</a> signed by a number of local anti-wind groups and national organizations backed by the Koch brothers, according to <a href="https://noauglaizewind.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/archive.docx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a document</a> found on the website of one of the signers, Auglaize Neighbors United. Among the signers were AWED, Freedomworks, and the American Energy Alliance.“We are working with several other national organizations who are also against the PTC,” according to an update found in that same document from the Auglaize Neighbors United website. “Our DC liaison, Dave Banks, has been actively working with these groups, who have been meeting once a week to discuss strategy, etc.”AWED’s relationships with Banks and other D.C. insiders opened some powerful doors in Washington. Banks joined Droz and other AWED supporters for a meeting with staff for then House Speaker John Boehner, according to a “<a href="http://pweb.westelcom.com/brvmug//WindPower/DC_PTC_Trip_Report.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">AWED December 2012 DC PTC Trip Report</a>” that Droz posted online.Asked about these relationships in 2017, Droz again feigned ignorance.“Of course I am familiar with Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks, and Exelon,” Droz told the Energy and Policy Institute. “None of those people (to my knowledge) paid anyone to assist in this issue.”Bank’s public work as AWED’s director of D.C. operations appears to have ended sometime in 2013, around the same time he <a href="https://www.csis.org/news/former-white-house-advisor-environmental-quality-george-david-banks-joins-csis" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">joined the Center for Strategic & International Studies</a> (CSIS). At CSIS, Banks <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/unintended-consequences-energy-mandates-and-subsidies-america%E2%80%99s-civil-nuclear-fleet" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">again fought against the wind PTC</a> alongside <a href="https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/130614_Wallace_RestoringUSLeadershipNuclearEnergy_WEB.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">C. Boyden Gray and Exelon</a>. Banks continued to <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-accf-report-epas-massive-clean-power-plan-subsidies-for-wind-reinforce-calls-against-ptc-renewal-300185349.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">target the wind PTC</a> in 2015, while executive vice president for the American Council for Capital Formation, where he later <a href="http://accf.org/2016/10/05/clinton-misses-point-of-trumps-tweet-on-chinas-climate-hoax/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">defended Donald Trump’s tweet</a> that claimed climate change was a hoax manufactured by the Chinese.<h4 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 25.2344px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 1.2;">George David Banks faces questions about his past lobbying in 2017</h4>Banks has faced scrutiny as <a href="http://www.citizenvox.org/2017/06/26/36-former-lobbyists-working-trump-clear-conflicts-interest/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">one of many former lobbyists</a> appointed by Trump to work on the same issues they lobbied on within the past two years, despite a campaign pledge to “drain the swamp.” Banks was registered as having lobbied for the American Council on Capital Formation (ACCF) on “Tax, Environment, and Regulatory Issues” in <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=CD62DEAE-82F3-4B54-A38B-03E6C8829E21&filingTypeID=78" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">2015</a> and <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=CC626C97-78EB-4D7F-94F6-0A183AEC7495&filingTypeID=51" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">2016</a>. Banks and ACCF now <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/how-trump-administration-may-be-skirting-its-own-ethics-rules/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">claim</a> he was “mistakenly” registered as a lobbyist, and that the work Banks did for ACCF did not actually qualify as lobbying.As mentioned earlier, in 2009-2011, Banks was also a partner in Boyden, Gray & Associates, where his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-david-banks-96b2635" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">LinkedIn profile</a> discloses he was a “Registered lobbyist for Constellation, FirstEnergy and Nuclear Energy Institute.” Lobbying reports for Banks from this time can be in the U.S. <a href="http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldsearch.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">House</a> and <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=selectfields" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Senate</a> lobbying disclosure databases. Banks worked on “lobbying campaigns” for <a href="http://archive.fo/OxBF7#selection-975.0-975.279" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">AWED</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-david-banks-96b2635/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">the Battle Group</a>, according to statements about his work found online. However, searches of the House and Senate lobbying disclosure databases found no reports for lobbying done by “George David Banks” between 2012 and 2014, which covers the time period he worked for AWED and ran the Battle Group.<h4 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 25.2344px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 1.2;">What Banks’ anti-wind allies want from Trump</h4>“FYI I have some connections to the Trump transition team, and (as you can tell from news stories), things are moving along quite quickly,” Droz <a href="http://drrichswier.com/2016/11/21/trump-transition-recommendations-on-energy-the-environment-and-education/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">wrote to supporters</a> shortly after the 2016 election. Droz’s post-election message also included a revealing “<a href="http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/Trump/What_Needs_To_Be_Fixed.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">list</a> of some major issues that need addressing” by the Trump administration. The list included a call to “Terminate special renewable subsidies (e.g. PTC and ITC).” Droz and AWED also <a href="http://cornwallalliance.org/2017/05/joint-letter-from-42-groups-on-paris-climate-treaty/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">joined a letter</a> that called on Trump to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by many of the special interest groups they worked with on previous attacks on the wind PTC.The American Energy Alliance, with which Banks worked closely during his time at AWED, backed Trump’s presidential campaign and has played an <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/obscure-think-tank-gains-influence-1644feb0b813/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">outsized role</a> in defining the new Trump administration. The Institute for Energy Research, the American Energy Alliance’s research arm, continues to <a href="https://www.masterresource.org/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">promote Droz’s anti-wind work</a> on its blog, MasterResources.orgStill, ending the wind PTC before it’s current expiration date of 2020 <a href="http://www.utilitydive.com/news/how-federal-tax-reform-could-complicate-prospects-for-renewable-energy/436194/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">appears to be a non-priority</a> for most Republican lawmakers in Washington, and it’s worth a reminder that <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260890-trump-backs-wind-power-tax-break" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Trump actually backed the PTC</a> while on the campaign trail.But Droz and AWED have found some success working with Republicans and Koch-backed groups at the state level since 2012. In 2017, Droz <a href="https://www.coastalreview.org/2017/01/18845/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">provided support</a> to Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina who tried to halt an Amazon wind farm <a href="http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2017/02/08/opposition-amazon-wind-farm-nc-lawmakers-cite-alternativefacts/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">based on the pretense</a> that it posed a risk to a Navy radar installation –<a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/20/navy-wind-farm-opposed-gop-lawmakers-wont-harm-radar.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;"> a claim the Navy denied</a>. One of those same lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, later <a href="http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2017/06/28/windbreaker-john-droz-pleaded-gop-senators-kill-h589-senate-hear-bill-today/#sthash.qYvkeqnZ.dpbs" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">tacked a moratorium on new wind farms</a>onto a major solar bill that was signed into law – <a href="https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/north-carolina-texas-limit-attractiveness-of-new-wind-farm-developments" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">a move that pleased Droz</a>. During a recent <a href="https://www.heartland.org/multimedia/podcasts/john-droz-states-leading-the-way-in-protecting-national-security-and-military-bases-from-wind-farm-siting-problems" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">podcast interview</a> with H. Sterling Burnett of the Heartland Institute, Droz said he also supported a successful effort by state lawmakers in Texas to <a href="http://nawindpower.com/texas-governor-signs-tax-credit-bill-wind-near-military-airfields" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">pass legislation</a> that makes new wind farms located near military bases ineligible for property tax exemptions.The local communities and states that Droz and AWED target next will do well to remember whose interests these wind power opponents have aligned with, and it’s not the interests of <a href="http://news.gallup.com/poll/206159/americans-tilt-toward-protecting-environment-alternative-fuels.aspx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(196, 209, 224); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">the majority Americans who want to see more, not less, support for wind power</a>. </div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div>=</div><div>together at last: IER AEA:</div><div><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wind-production-tax-credit-2517400737.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/wind-production-tax-credit-2517400737.html</a><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px;"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">Who’s Behind a Letter Asking Congress to End the Wind Production Tax Credit?</h1></div><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px;"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2517400737" data-authors="Energy and Policy Institute" data-headline="Who’s Behind a Letter Asking Congress to End the Wind Production Tax Credit?" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description">By Dave AndersonA new letter asking Congress to end the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind" style="text-decoration-line: none;">wind</a> production tax credit has ties to the Institute for Energy Research, a group that has received funding from the fossil fuel and utility industry and is a close ally of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Trump</a> administration.The Energy and Policy Institute <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4326173-Tax-Reform-Letter-12-10-2017FINAL.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">downloaded a pdf of the letter</a> from <a href="http://www.windaction.org/posts/47629-2017-letter-to-congress-end-the-wind-tax-credits#.Wi7izXeZM_W" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">WindAction.org</a>, an anti-wind website run by the New Hampshire-based Lisa Linowes. A look at the "Document Properties" seemed to identify "Chris Warren" as the "Author" of the file:<div class="share-tab-img share-buttons share-trigger" style="max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; overflow: hidden;">[img]<div class="share-media-panel">An individual named "Chris Warren" worked as the director of communications for the Institute for Energy Research (IER) from June of 2012 to May of 2017, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-warren-3a15343a/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">according to Warren's LinkedIn profile</a>. While at IER, Warren <a href="http://www.windaction.org/posts/40255-house-hearing-on-tax-extenders-does-not-include-wind-subsidies#.Wi8JaHeZM0o" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">worked to oppose the wind PTC</a>.The Energy and Policy Institute attempted to contact Warren via his LinkedIn account about this new anti-wind letter to Congress, but has not received a response yet.Robert Bradley, the CEO and founder of IER, promoted the new letter, which he dubbed the "Linowes Letter," in <a href="https://www.masterresource.org/production-tax-credit-ptc/wind-letter-tax-bill-1/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a post on his group's blog MasterResource.org</a>. IER has received funding from fossil fuel and utility interests, including the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/koch-brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Koch</a> network,<a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/peabody-energy-funding-climate-denial-anti-renewable-energy/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> coal producer Peabody Energy</a>, and <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4320972-Edison-Electric-Institute-2016-990.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the Edison Electric Institute</a>. The group also has strong <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/obscure-think-tank-gains-influence-1644feb0b813/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ties to the Trump administration</a>."I'm not sure I know who Chris Warren is?" Linowes said in response to an email from the Energy and Policy Institute."In any event, a Chris Warren had nothing to do with the letter," she said.Linowes claimed that she wrote the letter, and that no one helped to draft it.Shortly after the Energy and Policy Institute emailed Linowes for comment, the pdf of the letter found on <a href="http://www.windaction.org/posts/47629-2017-letter-to-congress-end-the-wind-tax-credits#.Wi8RdbQ-fOQ" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">WindAction.org</a> was replaced with a new version with "Chris Warren" removed from the "Author" section of the "Document Properties":<div class="share-tab-img share-buttons share-trigger" style="max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; overflow: hidden;">img]<div class="share-media-panel">Robert Bradley of IER also linked to <a href="https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-production-tax-credit-for-industrial-wind.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a related petition</a> posted by Janna Swanson, an Iowa-based anti-wind activist, that's so far been signed by more than 1,100 people."The letter that will be sent with this petition to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday Dec.12, 2017 can be seen through this link," according to <a href="https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-production-tax-credit-for-industrial-wind.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Swanson's petition</a>, which then provided a link back to the Linowes letter on WindAction.org.Like an <a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/7cbc7dd79831a84c870f9842e/files/63c2b07b-f52f-4a40-90a0-9bd45f503aff/AEA_BEAT_Letter_Dec_1.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">earlier letter</a> from Tom Pyle, the president of IER and its affiliated organization the American Energy Alliance (AEA), the "Linowes Letter" goes beyond attacking the wind PTC, and also opposes a "carve-out" that would save the wind and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" style="text-decoration-line: none;">solar</a> power industry from the <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/in-senate-tax-bill-beat-isnt-sole-provision-harmful-to-renewables" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">harmful Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax, or BEAT, provision</a> found in the Senate version of the tax bill.AEA/IER have a long <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/george-david-banks-trump-wind-power/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">history of teaming up with anti-wind activists</a> against the wind PTC.Chris Warren now works as a speechwriter for Texans for Greg Abbott, according to his LinkedIn profile. Warren's new job began around the time that <a href="https://nawindpower.com/texas-governor-signs-tax-credit-bill-wind-near-military-airfields" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Governor Abbott signed a bill</a> that made wind farms located near military facilities ineligible for property tax exemptions.IER has promoted <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/fort-drum-wind-power-radar-claims/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">overblown claims</a> about the impacts of wind turbines on military radar operations <a href="https://www.masterresource.org/windpower-vs-radar/wind-versus-radar-iii/https://www.masterresource.org/windpower-vs-radar/wind-versus-radar-iii/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">made by Linowes on MasterResource.org</a>.Linowes is one of the "Principals" who writes regularly for IER's blog MasterResource.org, and her relationship with IER calls into question <a href="http://www.windaction.org/about" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">claims of independence found in the FAQ section of WindAction.org</a>:"WindAction is not funded in any way by others in the energy industry including coal, natural gas, nuclear power, or other renewable energy resources; nor are we affiliated with large political activists groups. Support for our efforts is entirely grass roots, coming from diversified environmentalists, energy experts, and ordinary citizens who share our concerns about industrial wind energy development."IER disclosed a total of <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4324884-Institute-for-Energy-Research-990-2016.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">$151,625 in expenses for "CONSULTING—RESEARCH AND WRITING" on its IRS 990 for 2016</a>, and<a href="http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2015/760/149/2015-760149778-0d311080-9.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> another $227,417 for 2015</a>, but did not disclose to whom that money was being paid.Asked if she has received funding from IER or AEA, Linowes responded, "No."Members of Congress who receive the "Linowes letter" should know about Linowes' ties to the Institute for Energy Research, and the fossil fuel and utility interests that this group represents.Dave Anderson is the policy and communications manager for the <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/wind-ptc-letter-congress/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Energy and Policy Institute</a>.</div></div><div>=</div><div>
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