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</div><div><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf</a>neglected?  not all tags implmemented 420bak 420  MacDaddy=
<div>=</div><div>a niche for anyone who has procreated?</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/professional-conservatives-find-path-victory-ginned-outrage-over-critical-race">https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/professional-conservatives-find-path-victory-ginned-outrage-over-critical-race</a></div><div>
</div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Born in a constellation of right-wing think tanks, the outrage against “critical race theory” spent <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-critical-race-theory-obsession" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">over a year</a> in the metastasizing embrace of right-wing media, churning up hatred against discussions of race in schools.As this deceptive marketing reached a fever pitch, there was an explosion in <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/inside-right-wing-echo-chambers-attempt-use-facebook-gin-outrage-about" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Facebook</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/education/no-left-turn-education-leading-anti-critical-race-theory-group-frequently-pushes-toxic" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">groups</a> being formed or shifting their focus to opposing critical race theory in schools. These groups were a nexus for supporters to organize in-person <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/critical-race-theory-invades-school-boards-help-conservative-groups-n1270794" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">disruptions</a> at school board meetings.This astroturfed frenzy against supposed CRT in schools led to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/back-to-school-live-updates/2021/08/30/1032417970/school-board-members-hostile-meetings-mask-mandates-politicized" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">threats and harassment</a> against school board members nationwide, and, in Virginia, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/03/us/elections/glenn-youngkin.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">helped propel</a> Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin to the governor’s mansion. Assigning national importance to a statewide election can be reckless; anti-CRT outrage <a href="https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2021/11/03/voters-in-tense-york-suburban-race-reject-conservative-candidates-focused-on-masks-and-crt/6265407001/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">did not</a> <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/anti-critical-race-theory-focus-fails-in-wisconsin-school-board-recall-election/article_ae029169-38af-5b9e-a7ab-4df424b7d66e.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">prevail</a> <a href="https://ctmirror.org/2021/11/02/critical-race-theory-divides-then-unifies-guilford-as-republican-school-board-candidates-are-defeated/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">everywhere</a> in the 2021 election. But for the effort and money that conservative activists and media put into defining the Virginia gubernatorial race with critical race theory, it is clear that these charlatans will attempt to export the Virginia playbook nationally in 2022 and beyond[twt.]as Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo, who <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-critical-race-theory-attacks-are-supercharging-racist-movement-undo-decades" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">helped launch the campaign</a>, has explained, the goal is to “put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category” so that people “read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think ‘critical race theory.’” Other right-wing institutions and groups, like the Heritage Foundation, joined in the fray with <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/heritage-foundations-critical-race-theory-expert-extremist-who-thinks-women" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">events</a>, activist <a href="https://heritageaction.com/crtbook" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">toolkits</a>, <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/copland-critical-race-theory-model-legislation" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">model legislation</a>, and <a href="https://heritageaction.com/toolkit/rejectcrt" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pushes</a> for bans made in concert with lawmakers.</div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;">From there, advocacy groups use this think tank framework to generate local outrage against critical race theory.[IT'S A FRANCHISE MODEL?! MLM?] According to an NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/critical-race-theory-invades-school-boards-help-conservative-groups-n1270794" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">analysis</a>, there are now “at least 165 local and national groups that aim to disrupt lessons on race and gender,” and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-anti-critical-race-theory-parents-are-also-gop-activists" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">several of the most prominent ones</a> are headed by Republican activists and strategists. These groups cram local controversies into the CRT framework established by Rufo and others, disrupt school board meetings, and place spokespeople in media appearances -- sometimes professional spokespeople, who are <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-anti-critical-race-theory-parents-are-also-gop-activists" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">instead described</a> as local parents. The noise and attention from these professionally operated, think tank-inspired groups then generates coverage from an obsequious and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-obsession-critical-race-theory-numbers" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">obsessive</a> right-wing media, champing at the bit for any angle that will hurt Democrats and help Republicans. Empowered by the outrage suddenly all over TV -- to the tune of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-obsession-critical-race-theory-numbers" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">hundreds of Fox mentions per month</a>, plus loads more from OAN and Newsmax -- GOP politicians find incentive to take legislative action to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">drastically limit</a> the teaching of civil rights, sometimes even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/texas-schools-books-race-sexuality/2021/10/27/dcaa30c2-3738-11ec-8be3-e14aaacfa8ac_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">banning books</a> altogether. [AND WORDS]This <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/guide-right-wing-medias-critical-race-theory-strategy" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">feedback loop</a> is a concerted strategy whose first <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/rights-cynical-critical-race-theory-obsession-breaks-through-va-gov-race" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">trial run</a> was the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election. It is not a grassroots movement, it is not a natural response to alleged left-wing excesses, and it is not about what is best for children. It is a top-down attempt by professional political operatives to morph political landscapes to suit their racially regressive needs. And, at least in Virginia, it seems to have worked. [twt.]as Rufo promised, the professional outrage against critical race theory has only just begun. As the next election looms, critical race theory (or similar dog whistles like “parents’ rights”) will suddenly get <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-obsession-critical-race-theory-numbers" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">thousands</a> of TV mentions again, and professional GOP operatives will again call themselves mere concerned parents. Think tankers may even publicly discuss their exact plans again, because they know it won’t cause any harm; <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/virginia-election-shows-democrats-public-school-problem.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">enough of</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/bidens-struggles-education-wars-propel-youngkins-virginia-victory-2021-11-03/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">the mainstream</a> <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2021-10-26/youngkin-mcauliffe-tangle-over-education-in-bid-for-suburban-virginia-voters" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">media</a> will still cover these anti-CRT outrages as grassroots “education” issues, instead of what they are: a think tank astroturf project.</div></div></div><div>=</div><div></div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Colorado-Targeted-by-Fossil-Fuel-Industry-Disinformation-Playbook.pdf">https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Colorado-Targeted-by-Fossil-Fuel-Industry-Disinformation-Playbook.pdf</a></div><div>
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</div><div><div>Colorado Targeted by</div><div>Fossil Fuel Industry’s</div><div>Disinformation</div><div>Playbook</div><div>Climate Deception Harms Communities’ Health</div><div>and Safety</div><div>www.ucsusa.org/resources/colorado-fossil-fuel-industry-disinformation</div><div>https://doi.org/10.47923/2021.14291</div><div>
</div><div><div>CONTENTS</div><div>Chapter 1 Deceiving the Public: The Disinformation Playbook 4</div><div>The Disinformation Playbook and Colorado Oil and Gas Operations 5</div><div>Chapter 2 Disinformation Tactic: The Fix 7</div><div>Lobbying to Weaken Public Health and Safety Protections and Enhance Fossil Fuel Profits 8</div><div>Overwhelming Public Voices to Thwart Ballot Initiatives 9</div><div>Table 1. An Example of How Industry Spending Overwhelms Health and Safety 10</div><div>Pitting Local Leaders Against the Health and Safety of Their Constituents 11</div><div>Influencing Public Policy Positions from Inside and Out 11</div><div>Using Proxy Groups to Confuse the Public and Undermine Support for Climate</div><div>Accountability Lawsuits 12</div><div>Chapter 3 Disinformation Tactic: The Diversion 13</div><div>Elevating Industry Interests Above Community Voices 13</div><div>Fabricating the Appearance of Local Support 14</div><div>Figure 1. Colorado’s Climate Disinformation Complex 15</div><div>Greenwashing Your Screens 16</div><div>Chapter 4 Disinformation Tactic: The Screen 18</div><div>Building Credibility by Hiding Behind Trusted State Institutions 18</div><div>Burnishing Industry’s Reputation through Association with Respected Nonprofits 19</div><div>Chapter 5 Disinformation Tactic: The Fake 21</div><div>Chapter 6 A Litany of Harms: Health and Safety 23</div><div>Cancer-Causing and Other Dangerous Chemicals in the Air and Water 24</div><div>Poor Air Quality 24</div><div>New Research Identifies Even More Dangerous Ozone Problems 25</div><div>Figure 2. Fossil Fuel Industry Emissions are Higher in High Racial-Minority Census</div><div>Tracts 26</div><div>Dangerous Inactive Wells 26</div><div>Climate Change Impacts 27</div><div>Chapter 7 A Litany of Harms: Economic 28</div><div>Bogus Complaints about High Taxes 28</div><div>Inflated Jobs Claims 28</div><div>Union of Concerned Scientists | 3</div><div>Figure 3. Oil and Gas Extraction’s Boom-and-Bust Contribution to the Colorado</div><div>Economy 29</div><div>Other Harms, Some Difficult To Monetize 29</div><div>Chapter 8 Recommendations 31</div><div>Acknowledgments 32</div></div><div>
</div><div>...For more than a decade, Colorado oil and gas exploration and development have intensified, often putting dangerous and polluting industrial activities in close proximity to homes, schools, playgrounds, and other public spaces. This report exposes how the fossil fuel industry positions itself as the backbone of the state economy, often framing any community opposition to this industry’s dangerous operations as a fight against local interest in the form of tax revenue, school funding, and jobs. The industry largely glosses over evidence it causes health, economic, or environmental damage, and its clout enables oil and gas extraction and expansion to continue with little regard for those facing the adverse health and economic impacts. In Colorado, the oil and gas industry is comprised of powerful transnational corporations, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, along with companies such as Noble Energy (now owned by Chevron), Anadarko (now owned by Occidental Petroleum), and Suncor (a large Canadian tar-sands operation with close ties to ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell). </div><div>
</div><div>The industry’s interests are represented by heavyweight national lobbying outfits like the American Petroleum Institute (API), as well as local trade associations, like the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA). A proliferation of industry-created and backed front groups includes several with ties to the private multinational conglomerate Koch Industries. They often all work together to run the same Disinformation Playbook. Of course, the fossil fuel industry uses similar tactics and wields considerable political clout in other oil- and gas-producing states and at the federal level. Consider its success in stalling any meaningful climate action for more than two decades and its ability to despoil public and Native lands and waters with drilling and pipelines. Or consider the API’s nationwide TV and digital ad campaign, launched ahead of the 2020 elections and targeting not only Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and other key oil- and gas-producing states but also Wisconsin, Michigan, and other political swing states (API 2020a; API 2020b)....</div><div>
</div><div>Lobbying to Weaken Public Health and Safety Protections and Enhance Fossil Fuel Profits </div><div>
</div><div>In the early years of fracking in Colorado, API and its local division, the Colorado Petroleum Council (CPC), pushed the state legislature to enact the little-known ad valorem tax credit, which allows oil and gas companies to deduct local property taxes from the severance tax that fossil fuel companies must pay to the state. As local property taxes have increased, particularly for oil and gas operations, the state’s pool of severance taxes, based on production and profits, has shrunk—even though severance-tax revenues are needed to remediate abandoned and orphaned wells. Such wells are often underground pathways through which toxic fluids and gases migrate upward into air, water, and homes. These wells are also a significant source of leaked methane, a heat-trapping pollutant that has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere (Bushkin-Bedient et al. 2020). </div><div>
</div><div>Thanks to the ad valorem tax credit, some oil and gas operations have paid nothing to the state in recent years, leaving old wells unremediated and dangerous to residents (Eason 2020; Legislative Council Staff, n.d.; Silbaugh 2020). In April 2017, a house in Firestone, Colorado blew up, killing two residents and seriously injuring a third. The explosion was traced to gas leaking from an old well that had not been disconnected from the wellhead or properly capped (Markus 2018; Osher 2017; Svaldi and Finley 2017). In direct response to the explosion, the legislature took up a science-based bill to require regulators to map oil and gas pipelines throughout the state; a filibuster in the Republican-controlled state Senate killed the proposal. Lobbying disclosure reports and campaign-finance records showed that Anadarko and Noble Energy, both of which opposed the bill, spent significantly in support of Senate Republican candidates in the 2016 election as well as to directly lobby against the bill (Osher 2017; Sirota 2017).</div><div>
</div><div> Also in April 2017, the legislature considered a bill mandating that new oil and gas facilities be set back a certain distance from school property. Such a policy is intended to reduce children’s exposure to toxic releases by keeping them a safer distance from potential explosions. By a one-vote margin along party lines, a Senate committee killed the bill to establish a buffer zone separating oil and gas wells and associated facilities from occupied buildings and property lines. COGA, CPC, and other industry representatives led the opposition, arguing that “energy is the cornerstone of [the state’s] prosperity” (Glick and Ray 2017)—overstating the industry’s economic importance while ignoring the value of keeping children safe. An investigative report put oil and gas industry clout into some perspective: “Most of the people who testified in favor of the school setback bill were residents. . . . Virtually all who opposed it were paid lobbyists, most from industry associations” (Glick and Ray 2017). </div><div>
</div><div>With the passage of Senate Bill 181 in 2019, the state got serious about tightening health and safety controls on the oil and gas industry. The industry, which aggressively opposed the bill, lobbied successfully for a late language change that weakened the ability of local governments to protect public health and safety. At the behest of industry lobbyists, the terms “necessary Union of Concerned Scientists | 9 and reasonable” were added as qualifiers to the bill’s text, potentially limiting the ability of cities and counties to require new protective measures (Bloom 2019)....</div><div>
</div><div>Overwhelming Public Voices to Thwart Ballot Initiatives </div><div>
</div><div>In 2016, aggressive campaigns by Protect Colorado and Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED)—front groups funded by API, CPC, Noble Energy, and Occidental Petroleum—prevented two grassroots-driven ballot measures from getting in front of voters (Dyer 2016a). One measure would have increased local control over oil and gas expansion, with the aim of putting science at the forefront of decision-making on siting, reporting, and safety requirements designed to protect the communities. </div><div>
</div><div>The other measure would have improved community health and safety by requiring fracking operations be set back 2,500 feet from any occupied structure (homes, schools, businesses) or “areas of concern” (drinking water sources, lakes, parks). The current scientific consensus is that a setback of 2,000 to 2,500 feet is needed to protect health and safety, especially that of children (Lewis, Greiner, and Union of Concerned Scientists | 10 Brown 2018; Milton et al. 2014; McKenzie et al. 2012). The setback would have reduced exposure to air and water pollution, lessened noise pollution, and kept children further from potential explosions. Opponents outraised proponents by a ratio of 24–1, with 99.9 percent of the opponents’ nearly $17 million total coming from energy industry companies or front groups; their campaign drowned out the public health and safety arguments at the heart of initiative (Table 1) (Blake 2016; Claypool 2016)....</div><div>
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</div><div>,,,Protect Colorado repeated the play again two years later, in 2018, spending almost $40 million to oppose Proposition 112 (Sirota and Woodruff 2018b), which would have required new oil and gas development projects to be set back 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas of concern. In addition to donating millions of dollars to Protect Colorado PAC to oppose Proposition 112, Noble Energy directly funded spots on at least 12 TV stations in the month before the election (Sirota and Woodruff 2018b). One ad explicitly told voters: “When you vote, we need your support to stop Proposition 112, so we can continue producing the natural gas and oil that power our daily lives.” </div><div>
</div><div>This ad ignored the initiative’s health and safety intent, instead advancing a bogus economic argument that stronger protective measures would put the industry out of business (Sirota and Woodruff 2018a). In 2020, the industry poured money into ad campaigns even with no initiatives on the ballot or legislation in the works. Protect Colorado spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a statewide online and TV ad campaign aimed at Governor Polis and the COGCC, threatening to challenge any new regulations, particularly on siting setbacks, that the industry deemed unreasonable (Bunch 2020). The industry promoted 500-foot setbacks—about one-fourth the distance that scientists say is best to protect communities, especially vulnerable populations (Lewis, Greiner, and Brown 2018; Milton et al. 2014)....</div><div>[rev dr]</div><div>
</div><div>Using Proxy Groups to Confuse the Public and Undermine Support for Climate Accountability Lawsuits </div><div>
</div><div>In 2018, Boulder and San Miguel counties and the city of Boulder sued ExxonMobil and Suncor, arguing that the companies violated state law by deceiving the public about the dangers of their fossil fuel products. These local governments are demanding that the companies pay their fair share of remediating climate damages accruing in their communities (Boulder County, n.d.; City of Boulder, n.d.; EarthRights International, n.d.; San Miguel County, n.d.). </div><div>
</div><div>Almost immediately, ExxonMobil and Suncor launched a counteroffensive, using proxy groups to distort the public’s understanding of the case. The defendants, falsely suggesting that the local governments were seeking a back-door path to achieve legislative goals, attempted to redirect attention away from the on-the-ground reality that communities face budget-busting expenses due to climate change-related fires, flooding, bad air quality, and extreme heat. Industry PR companies, particularly Western Wire (an ExxonMobil executive serves on its board of directors) and Energy In Depth (a project of the Independent Petroleum Association of America), ramped up their substantial media buys to discredit the legal strategy (EarthRights International 2018). </div><div>
</div><div>Industry groups also attacked and attempted to discredit a public forum at the University of Colorado Law School on holding fossil fuel companies liable for climate change harms in the state (MAP 2019; University of Colorado Law School 2019). Further, their representatives posed as journalists to try to interview plaintiff’s attorneys outside of appropriate court channels (EarthRights International 2018; EarthRights International 2019). For more than three years, the defendants have used procedural tactics to keep this case—like other recent climate accountability complaints against fossil fuel companies—from being considered on its merits....</div><div>
</div><div>Chapter 3 Disinformation Tactic:</div><div>
</div><div> The Diversion Manufacture uncertainty about science (including economics) and facts where little or no uncertainty exists</div><div>
</div><div> In an infamous 1969 memorandum, a tobacco executive captured the Diversion tactic well: “Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the minds of the general public” (Mulvey and Shulman 2015). </div><div>
</div><div>To create doubt, undermine science, influence public opinion, and gain access to policymakers while maintaining the illusion of independence, fossil fuel companies in Colorado have deployed trade associations, front groups with innocuous-sounding names, and “greenwashing” advertising campaigns that paint oil and gas as sources of clean energy and central to climate solutions. Corporate interests even create, fund, and control so-called “astroturf” groups that falsely portray themselves as grassroots.</div><div>
</div><div> To rig the system in its favor, Colorado’s fossil fuel industry uses “The Diversion” to exert political power over crucial legislative, regulatory, and grassroots-led initiatives, commonly engaging in a variety of activities, including: • Elevating industry interests above community voices; • Fabricating the appearance of local support; and • Greenwashing your screens. Elevating Industry Interests Above Community Voices </div><div>
</div><div>At least three oil and gas industry trade associations operate aggressively in Colorado: the American Petroleum Institute, the Colorado Petroleum Council (the API’s local affiliate), and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Also active are the Colorado Petroleum Association, the Western Energy Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), and the CO-WYO Petroleum Marketers Association. </div><div>
</div><div>Wielding its wealth and political power, the industry is able to supercharge its advocacy and drown out community voices. Sometimes visibly and sometimes behind the scenes, these trade associations engage in extensive Union of Concerned Scientists | 14 legislative and regulatory lobbying and pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaigns to sway public opinion, especially investing in large-scale TV, radio, and social-media advertising. Fossil fuel trade associations use their clout to spread disinformation. For example, their lobbyists routinely exaggerate the industry’s economic benefits while downplaying the health and safety risks to community members. In 2017 testimony to a state Senate committee hearing on the proposed legislation on setbacks from school properties, COGA’s president claimed that protective setback extensions would undermine oil and gas as “the cornerstone of prosperity” in the state (Glick and Ray 2017). </div><div>
</div><div>The industry has peddled that exaggeration for years, even though the oil and gas sector is a notoriously unstable, “boom and bust” enterprise that accounts for roughly 1 percent of Colorado jobs. At the same time, it offloads onto the state and its communities innumerable externalities, such as air pollution, fouled waters, and abandoned mines (PwC 2017; API 2017; BEA, n.d.b). The industry also downplays, even denies, the health risks from contaminants released during oil and gas exploration and extraction. During the 2017 setback hearing, CPC’s executive director told the press that the idea of protecting school children “was based on the presumption that being near oil and gas facilities is dangerous,” adding that CPC “absolutely rejects that notion” (Glick and Ray 2017). </div><div>
</div><div>Yet current oil and gas production releases a host of dangerous chemicals into the air and water—including those that cause cancer and disrupt the endocrine system—and it creates significant noise and light pollution. Science shows that children are particularly sensitive to those dangerous chemicals (Bushkin-Bedient et al. 2020, 60, 86; Glick and Ray 2017, McKenzie et al. 2017). An API TV ad opposing a 2019 package of oil and gas reforms in the legislature is another example of how industry advertising spreads falsehoods and misrepresentations. The ad claimed that the measures would “shut down energy production in Colorado”—a claim with no economic basis (API 2019). The ad suggested that lawmakers, acting in bad faith, had snuck the bill out of committee “in the middle of the night.” </div><div>
</div><div>In reality, the relevant committee voted at 2:00 a.m. only after hearing more than 12 hours of testimony from both supporters and opponents (Woodruff 2019). </div><div>
</div><div>Fabricating the Appearance of Local Support </div><div>
</div><div>A plethora of oil and gas industry front groups litters the political landscape in Colorado, often with ambiguous or purposely confusing names, sometimes using dirty-trick tactics, and rarely disclosing ties to the industry (Yowell 2018). To conceal its lobbying activities, the industry hides behind astroturf organizations, created to falsely appear as grassroots in their opposition to forward-looking climate and energy policy ( see Figure 1)....</div><div>
</div><div>In 2019, the industry ran an aggressive and misleading campaign in opposition to Senate Bill 181. In addition to TV and radio ads, it invested in social-media advertising. Using the Facebook Ad Library, an investigative reporter identified “dozens of sponsored posts from astroturf groups like ‘Energy Citizens’ and ‘Energy Nation’ opposing SB181,” paid for with tens of thousands of dollars from the API. The ads recorded millions of impressions (Woodruff 2019; Davies 2011). </div><div>
</div><div>Perhaps the most ubiquitous of the front groups is Coloradoans for Responsible Energy Development. Created and generously funded by Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy, CRED describes itself as an educational organization, yet it engages deeply in overt political activities. Mark Truax, in his presentation to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission in 2015, described these activities. As CRED’s director of operations and coalitions, he also boasted about the vast amount of money the organization invested in those activities (Dyer 2016a; Glick and Ray 2016). </div><div>
</div><div>The trade associations and front groups create astroturf groups that are industry-funded and led by industry representatives and political operatives. CRED created its political arm, Protect Colorado, for the purpose of defeating grassroots-led anti-fracking ballot initiatives Union of Concerned Scientists | 16 (Protect Colorado, n.d.). For example, to defeat the 2016 setback and local control initiatives, Protect Colorado initiated a “decline to sign” campaign, discouraging Coloradans from signing a petition to get the initiatives on the ballot; it used various grassroots organizing techniques funded with nearly $17 million by CRED, Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy, and several other oil and gas companies (Blake 2016; Claypool 2016). </div><div>
</div><div>As tracked by Public Citizen, “The widest disparity between spending by corporate-backed groups and their mostly noncorporate opposition was found in the race for Colorado’s Mandatory Setback from Oil and Gas Development Amendment” (Claypool 2016). Also as part of 2016 efforts to keep setback and local-control initiatives off the statewide ballot, Protect Colorado hired people to carry signs saying “decline to sign #75 and #78” (Evans 2016; Glick and Ray 2016; KGNU 2016). </div><div>
</div><div>Protect Colorado was similarly behind efforts to harass signature gatherers and petition signers. Protesters followed a Denver mom out gathering signatures, screaming in her face, “You’re taking our jobs!” No one answered when she asked her harassers questions about the “jobs” they had in the industry (Glick and Ray 2016). These dirty tricks continued and even expanded in 2018. The industry again hired protesters who followed petition-signature gatherers, sometimes harassing and threatening them, in an effort to keep the setback initiative off the ballot (Yowell, 2018). An undisclosed pro-industry group paid a signature-gathering firm to stop its work on the initiative; the contractor admitted on tape to initiative organizers: “Nobody threatened me. You know what they’re doing. They’re going around and buying people” (Olabi 2018). The industry also created new astroturf organizations with names strikingly similar to those of initiative supporters, apparently attempting to confuse voters about who was behind the campaigns (Yowell 2018).</div></div><div>=</div>=420 the conv
...<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">seeking authentic feelings</h2>Dissent – and the freedom to do it – is a crucial element of democracy. Political leaders are rightly influenced by public opinion. But it’s important to know when protests are sparked by special-interest groups seeking to manipulate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417690325" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">officials’ perception of public sentiment</a>.As a journalist who has covered politics for 20 years and now studies how people process uncertainty, I note that the questions about the current protests raise echoes of the Tea Party movement a decade ago.In February 2009, the Obama administration was grappling with a severe economic crisis caused by a collapse in the mortgage market. A reporter on CNBC, Rick Santelli, <a href="http://www.takepart.com/feature/2015/10/30/tea-party-history" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">began to complain</a> that one part of the federal bailout plan, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, might let people out of their mortgage obligations even if they should have anticipated they wouldn’t be able to afford them and would face foreclosure.Santelli made this point on TV while standing on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">surrounded by very wealthy traders who egged him on</a>. It was compelling entertainment, and the speech spread rapidly through conservative media. Radio host Rush Limbaugh replayed it on his show; conservative strategists admired it, and millions of conservatives heard it.Santelli called for a modern-day “tea party” to object to unfair government rules.Within months, a coalition of anti-immigration reform activists, fiscal hawks, regulation opponents and social conservatives pulled together behind a common set of grievances: Barack Obama’s alleged profligate spending, his willingness to let certain groups get ahead in the economy over other groups – policies that many of them viewed as <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0731121415593275" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">putting racial minorities at a perceived advantage</a> to white people.Calling themselves the Tea Party movement, most members were Republicans – but the Republican Party wasn’t speaking for them, so the nation’s two-party structure itself became a common enemy, too. When the Tea Party held its first protests, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tea-party-protesters-rally-against-gangster-government/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">thousands of people</a> showed up. As the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-apr-16-me-tea-party16-story.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">protests spread</a>, motivated partisans who <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=1940196" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">look for opportunities</a> to change attitudes and behaviors, <a href="https://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">backed by a conservative political funding machine</a>, developed a way to capture the protest energy and channel it effectively.<figure class="align-center zoomable" style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;">
<figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); line-height: 18px; cursor: default;">Authentic protest – like how the Tea Party movement began – is a longstanding American tradition. <a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Obama/52b9365b811044239c20d453e5021a0e/15/0" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a>]</figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Enduring sentiments, new moments</h2>Social scientists who <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2782114" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">study new movements in politics</a> find that the underlying sentiments are as old as civilization itself: Who gets the stuff that the government gives out? What’s fair? Who’s jumped the line?What, then, makes a movement into something real?It starts with a galvanizing event, like the Tea Party’s public protest gatherings, when hundreds of thousands of people <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-tea-party-and-the-remaking-of-republican-conservatism-9780190633660?cc=us&lang=en&" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">saw that other people were willing to work together for a cause</a>.The movement needs a common enemy – in that case, Obama, his policies and a political structure that permitted them – and the potential for real change, not just politically but <a href="https://watson.brown.edu/ir/files/ir/imce/honors/Bid%C3%A9_Final2015.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">socially as well</a>. For those joining the Tea Party, the goal became clear: They could take over the Republican Party.Fairly quickly, the Tea Party was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/us/politics/tea-party-trump.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">co-opted by wealthier interests</a> hoping to channel its energy toward slightly different ends – although much of the movement resisted the corporate takeover of its message. Public opinion surveys <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-apr-16-me-tea-party16-story.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">backed up the intuition</a> that the movement had force.<figure class="align-center zoomable" style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;">
<figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); line-height: 18px; cursor: default;">[pix A North Carolina protest was ostensibly coordinated by ReopenNC, whose website was registered by a Florida resident and focuses on selling T-shirts and stickers. <a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-North-Carolina/6f1a91fd730246c9a8a77db03ef8e161/66/0" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">AP Photo/Gerry Broome</a></figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">A viral ideology</h2>In mid-April 2020, it appeared, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/16/coronavirus-arrests-rise-police-enforce-stay-home-orders-states/5142415002/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">a new movement was rising</a> to express frustration with the restrictions and uncertain endpoint to the pandemic, and the economic toll the lockdown has caused.In the space of several days, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52359100" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">there were protests in a dozen states</a>, ranging from a crowd of more than 2,000 who gathered in Olympia, Washington, to several dozen in Annapolis, Maryland.The available evidence suggests that the demonstrations were organized by paid <a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/whos-behind-the-reopen-domain-surge/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">political operatives using Facebook and new websites</a> to encourage conservatives to protest in specific places against specific governors who had imposed strong public health restrictions on economic activity. This context <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/19/pro-gun-activists-using-facebook-groups-push-anti-quarantine-protests/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">indicates that one real intention</a> of the protests was to create the illusion of an organic movement that had arisen to object to the restrictions. Evidence is to the contrary: Polling shows that <a href="https://www.thepublicopinion.com/ap/politics/ap-norc-poll-few-americans-support-easing-virus-protections/article_48fbd75b-8602-5bf1-8993-d7ea1bde6403.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">just 12% of Americans</a> think their local restrictions have gone too far – and 26% think they don’t go far enough.Sparked by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/g3niq3/i_simply_cannot_believe_that_people_are/fnstpyl/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">citizen inquiries first posted on Reddit</a>, independent investigative reporter Brian Krebs has confirmed that most of the web domains that had been registered around the idea of “reopening” the economy <a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/whos-behind-the-reopen-domain-surge/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">belonged to a very small number of people</a>. He used <a href="https://research.domaintools.com/research/domain-search/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">a cybersecurity search tool</a> to search for “any and all domains registered in the past month that begin with "reopen” and end in “.com.” He <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HQnx-RvMM7BrpX1ysgjqzu8XkaDeu0w4gJgTtzB3dfk/edit" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">found that many of them were created on the same day</a>.He found that many of these websites, whose registration records you can see yourself at Whois.com, were owned by anti-gun-control groups that are run by the same family of brothers that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/conservative-activist-family-behind-grassroots-anti-quarantine-facebook-events-n1188021" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">organized the demonstrations through Facebook groups they run</a>.Several others of the “reopen” websites were registered with addresses or phone numbers used by <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/freedomworks-rich-donors-armey-kibbe-super-pac/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">longstanding conservative enterprises</a> like Freedom Works. A <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/reopen-liberate-urls/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">surprising number</a> belonged to an activist who told Mother Jones that he registered the domains to keep conservatives from using them to counter the recommendation of public health officials.<figure class="align-center zoomable" style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;">[pix
<figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); line-height: 18px; cursor: default;">The ‘Reopen North Carolina’ website focuses on selling merchandise. <a class="source" href="https://reopennc.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">Screenshot of ReopenNC.com by The Conversation</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">CC BY-ND</a>]</figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">The threat of fake grassroots</h2>For the people who took part, the protests were no doubt real.But media coverage can <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/22/21227928/coronavirus-social-distancing-lockdown-trump-tea-party" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">inflate or distort their size and meaning</a>. On its main protest story, ABC News put a headline suggesting protests had “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/protests-coronavirus-stay-home-orders-spread-country/story?id=70242988" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">spread</a>” to new places.But that creates a sense that these protests grew quickly, spontaneously, and organically. The fact that protests happened in different places at different times doesn’t actually mean they’re spreading. When organized by the same small group of political operatives, sequential protests reflect the creators’ skill at mobilizing people – not a naturally rising level of frustration that ultimately pushes people to act.Many political movements use these tactics. The problem comes from how the media presents the resulting events. On April 21, a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/21/us-nurses-who-died-coronavirus-honored-white-house-protest/2996839001" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">labor union organized a protest by nurses</a> at the White House – and media reports noted the event was created by a particular group with a specific purpose. That’s different from how the media treated the “reopen” gatherings.By covering a contrived protest as though it is an organic movement, the media could, even unintentionally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2015.07.003" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">create the illusion</a> of a <a href="https://qz.com/901411/political-protests-are-effective-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">popular force</a> that <a href="https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1130&context=joursp" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">doesn’t really exist</a>.That could result in politicians feeling nonexistent or exaggerated pressure to make decisions that threaten Americans’ public health.<div>=</div>astroturf
<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/06/06/enbridge-minnesotans-line-3-front-group-oil-pipeline">https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/06/06/enbridge-minnesotans-line-3-front-group-oil-pipeline</a>Minnesotans for Line 3, a group established last year to advocate for an Enbridge oil pipeline project, presents itself as a grassroots organization consisting of “<a href="https://www.minnesotansforline3.com/about-us/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">thousands of members.”</a>But a DeSmog investigation has found that behind the scenes, the Calgary-based energy giant is pulling the strings. Enbridge has provided the group with funding, public relations, and a variety of advocacy tactics.The investigation has also found that a public relations firm behind the operation recently tried to erase its ties to Enbridge.<h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;">Facebook Splurge and Secret Tactics</h3>Minnesotans for Line 3 first appeared in the battle over Enbridge’s <a href="https://mn.gov/puc/line3/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Line 3 Replacement Project</a> early last year.Opponents, who this week employed <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/03/activists-stage-blockade-block-work-line-3-court-tosses-out-proposed-pipelines" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">direct action tactics</a> to block initial work on the project and <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/06/groups-deliver-thousands-minnesotan-petition-signatures-against-enbridge-line" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">delivered</a> a petition to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, include several Native communities — among them the White Earth and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. Of their main concerns, these groups cite violation of Indigenous rights, risks associated with oil spills, and climate change impacts.Through a series of TV ads and op-eds, along with a social media campaign and a petition delivered to state authorities, Minnesotans for Line 3 called for approving Enbridge’s multi-billion dollar plan to replace and reroute its aging pipeline that transports Canadian tar sands oil through North Dakota and Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin.The group spent <a href="https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/energy-and-mining/4612095-study-minn-pipeline-group-top-spender-facebook-ads" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">considerable funds</a> on Facebook advertising, making it the tenth largest digital ad purchaser among interest groups between November 2018 and April 2019. And it allegedly engaged in more stealthy tactics as well: Dozens of young people wearing Minnesotans for Line 3 shirts occupied spots in a line at a state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) hearing on the project at the expense of the project’s opponents – <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/06/22/line-3-opponents-accuse-supporters-of-cheating-ticket-system-for-puc-hearing" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">only to disappear shortly</a> after receiving the tickets.    The PUC’s eventual approval of the project suffered a partial reversal this week, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/06/03/line3-oil-pipeline-minnesota-court-environement-spill-impact" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ruled</a>that the pipeline’s environmental impact statement did not adequately address the potential impact of an oil spill in the Lake Superior watershed. That review will likely be sent back to the PUC to determine how to proceed.<h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;">Enbridge Behind TV Ads</h3>Formally, Minnesotans for Line 3 says it was <a href="https://www.minnesotansforline3.com/about-us/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">established</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-schoneberger-28623010/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Bob Schoneberger</a>, the former founder and CEO of United Piping, an Enbridge construction contractor. Schoneberger, who died unexpectedly from a heart attack last November, worked previously for Lakehead Pipeline, Enbridge’s early incarnation.Minnesotans for Line 3’s website makes no mention of any affiliation with Enbridge, and other than United Piping, <a href="https://www.minnesotansforline3.com/about-us/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lists</a> two other construction companies — JR Jensen Construction and Gordon Construction — on its advisory cou...<div>=</div><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/02/15/propaganda-pipeline-front-group-gain-grow-america-infrastructure-now">https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/02/15/propaganda-pipeline-front-group-gain-grow-america-infrastructure-now</a>Although pipelines have been facing a number of setbacks recently, pro-pipeline groups aren’t giving up. One of those is <a href="http://gainnow.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Grow America’s Infrastructure Now</a> (GAIN), which came to our attention because it’s recently begun sponsoring the Washington Examiner’s <a href="http://central.washingtonexaminer.com/wex-doe/latest/?utm_source=Daily%20on%20Energy%20021319_02/13/2019&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_Daily%20on%20Energy" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">daily energy newsletter</a>.GAIN’s website simply describes the group as supporting strengthening infrastructure development and only mentions pipelines as one aspect of its focus, which also includes bridges, roads, etc. But the group’s <a href="http://gainnow.org/blog/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">blog</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/GAINNowAmerica" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/09/19/648029225/tougher-laws-on-pipeline-protests-face-test-in-louisiana" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">coverage</a> in <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/tribes-seek-to-challenge-corps-dakota-access-pipeline-study/" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the media </a>are pretty exclusively dedicated to pro-pipeline messaging. Hmmm, almost like it isn’t an all-around infrastructure group, and perhaps may have some ulterior motive …Which, of course, it does. GAIN was formerly known as the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN), which <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/09/15/dakota-access-pipeline-fake-twitter-accounts-dci-group" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Steve Horn at DeSmog</a> reported was acting as a front group for DCI. You may <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DCI_Group" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">remember DCI</a> as the PR firm tied to the GOP: It’s got experience<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-01-25/how-hedge-funds-secretly-get-their-way-in-washington" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> in creating front groups</a> on behalf of <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.com/blog/mercenary-admen-5-ways-one-pr-group-has-hijacked-politics-corporate-gain" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Big Tobacco, it’s known for its role</a> spearheading the modern Tea Party movement, and it’s also worked to <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/07/20/emails-bush-iraq-war-pr-delve-off-the-record-strategies-dakota-access-pipeline" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">discredit Dakota Access pipeline protesters</a>.And although it seems to have changed names, GAIN is still up to the same tricks.Back in July of 2017, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/07/27/conflicts-interest-hiding-behind-pro-pipeline-op-eds-around-country/217394" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Eric Hananoki at Media Matters</a> wrote a piece exposing how CNN Commentator James “Spider” Marks was writing op-eds attacking pipeline protestors without disclosing he was on the advisory board of TigerSwan, a company that was hired to provide security for the Dakota Access pipeline. This led to numerous papers updating Marks’ pieces to reflect this. <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2017/05/heres_why_pa_should_be_wary_of.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">PennLive actually stated</a> “his work will not appear on the website again” due to this failure to disclose.What’s Marks been up to lately? Well as it turns out, in the past year, he’s been writing more pro-pipeline op-eds, in the <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2018/10/17/James-A-Marks-Energy-security-is-national-security/stories/201810170061" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</a>, the <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/13/the-american-energy-strategic-advantage/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Washington Times</a>, and <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/19/cyberthreats_heighten_us_energy_vulnerability_137567.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">RealClearPolitics</a>. All, of course, without mentioning his position as a <a href="http://gainnow.org/about-us/" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Strategic Advisor at GAIN</a>. GAIN’s latest project is a “fact-checker” tool, designed, as the website says, to push back against the so-called “coordinated disinformation campaigns” that have been leveraged against pipelines like Dakota Access and Keystone XL.However, GAIN seems unaware of how fact-checkers generally work: The website often just repeats a claim without offering any further evidence and then deems it true.A <a href="https://gainfactchecker.org/no-adverse-effects-pipelines-property-values/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">recent fact-check</a> from earlier this week has the appearance of offering more evidence, but that disappears once you dig in. The check gives a “False” rating to a claim that a pipeline would negatively impact property values, using evidence in a 2016 study by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), a trade organization that advocates for the natural gas pipeline industry, which concluded that proximity to a natural gas pipeline has no impact on property value.Beyond the inherent bias of having a natural gas pipeline advocacy group do this study,<a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/business/energy/sunoco-mariner-east-me2-pipeline-chester-delaware-county-real-estate-home-prices-pa-20180601.html" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> some have also pointed out </a>that the study compared houses next to the pipeline with houses in the same development, a few hundred feet from the pipeline, rather than with the broader market. This means the research may not be accurately portraying the influence of pipelines on property value. After all, if the pipeline depresses value for the whole neighborhood, this methodology wouldn’t notice.Personal and <a href="https://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2016/01/02/pipelines-could-affect-property-values/77984160/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">local</a> accounts <a href="https://www.roanoke.com/business/news/a-question-of-effect-pipelines-vs-mortgages-property-values-insurance/article_c3750fd9-1712-5b3e-a12d-b2d2486f043b.html" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">suggest that’s exactly what’s happening</a>. <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/business/eagle-ford-energy/article/Texas-Hill-Country-landowners-fight-Kinder-Morgan-13511526.php" title="" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">One property owner</a> in the path of that Kinder Morgan pipeline — a self-described conservative who supports pipelines — says he’s been trying to sell his property and interest has dropped since the project was announced.Meaning that unless you own the pipeline or get paid by the people who do, buying into the industry‘s propaganda will be all pain, no GAIN.
 ----<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On February 21, the New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to uphold approval of Entergy's proposed natural gas power plant, which faces a growing number of lawsuits, and passed a resolution to impose a $5 million fine on the company for its role in a <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">paid-actors scandal</a>.
<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign">https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign</a>
Before the vote, in nearly three hours of often emotional testimony mostly against the plant, many contended that the $5 million fine was not a sufficient punishment. This was in light of the council's commissioned investigation, <a href="https://thelensnola.org/2018/10/29/entergy-investigators-company-knew-or-should-have-known-about-paid-actors-at-council-meetings/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">which concluded the company "knew or should have known</a>" that a subcontractor was paying actors to support its proposed power plant at council meetings.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>Entergy New Orleans, the company that recently <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/03/13/new-orleans-approves-entergy-natural-gas-plant-environmental-racism-climate-change" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">won approval</a> to build a controversial $210 million natural gas power plant in the city, confirmed that actors were paid to show support for this project at public meetings. Though Entergy claims it was unaware of the situation, a public relations firm it hired had paid freelance actors to testify in favor of the project at public meetings. On May 10, Entergy released its <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/NOPS%20Investigation%20Report%20Final%205%2010%202018.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">finding from an internal investigation</a> revealing that the public affairs firm The Hawthorn Group, which it hired to organize “grassroots support” for the natural gas power plant, in fact paid actors to voice and show support for the plant. The Hawthorn Group in turn hired a company called Crowds on Demand to “pay individuals that it recruited to appear and/or speak at those two meetings.”“This activity was undertaken without our knowledge or approval, and I can say unequivocally that it would not have been approved had we known,” Entergy General Counsel Marcus Brown <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/NEWSRELEASE_NOPSReport_5_10_18_FINAL.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">said in a statement</a>. “We do, however, recognize that we ultimately are responsible for the actions of those who act on our behalf, and we are taking immediate steps to prevent a similar situation from happening again.”

Earlier this week, The Lens, an investigative journalism site, <a href="https://thelensnola.org/2018/05/10/entergy-says-a-public-relations-firm-hired-people-to-speak-on-behalf-of-its-new-power-plant/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reported that actors</a> were paid $60 to show up at the meetings, and up to $200 to read a statement at two recent public meetings when critical votes regarding the plant were held.At one meeting in October last year, 50 people wearing orange shirts that read “Clean Energy. Good Jobs. Reliable Power” filled seats in an auditorium, preventing many residents who oppose the project from getting into the room. Entergy plans to build the natural gas power plant in New Orleans East, which is home to majority African-American and Vietnamese communities, raising concerns of environmental racism. Proponents claim the plant would address New Orleans’ energy outage issues, while critics say they could be solved for less money by fixing the city’s ailing transmission system.The Lens reported that the actors had to sign a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4450791-22450478-10209665066210350-1404230592-O.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">non-disclosure agreement</a> and were instructed not to speak to the media or tell anyone they were being paid to attend.Before the admission, Earthjustice <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/FILED-Louisiana-Open-Meetings-Petition-Memo-Proposed-Order.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">filed a lawsuit</a> on behalf of opponents of the power plant, including members of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Sierra Club, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, and 350 New Orleans, in order to void the actions taken at the two meetings, one a city council meeting and another a utility commission meeting.The opponents also sent <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethics_Investigation_Request.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a letter</a> to the Louisiana Attorney General, Buddy Landry, calling for an investigation into who paid for the fake participants, and possible legal and ethical violations. 
Renate Heurich of 350 New Orleans testifying against the gas power plant on March 8, 2018.]

Renate Heurich of <a href="https://350neworleans.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">350 New Orleans </a>doesn’t believe Entergy didn’t know the company’s money was going to paid actors at the public meetings. “I think the corruption goes much deeper than that,” she told me. “Why else would anyone on the council vote ‘yes’ on a project that has no value for the residents of New Orleans?” 

At the March council meeting before the vote for the plant was held, Heurich pleaded with the council not to invest in a fossil fuel infrastructure project in a city already plagued by the effects of climate change. “The vote for the plant, clearly wasn’t based on logic,” Heurich said. “The only one who benefits is Entergy.Astroturfing — secretly paying for efforts to create the illusion of grassroots support — is nothing new, but proving a company like Entergy may be involved can be challenging. Hawthorn, however, has a history of astroturf campaigns on behalf of the energy industry, as pointed out <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/hawthorn-group-pr-firm-paid-actors-new-orleans-entergy/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">by the Energy and Policy Institute</a>. In 2009, the company, paid by the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-coalition-clean-coal-electricity" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</a>, hired a subcontractor to create the illusion of grassroots support against climate change legislation, which involved forging letters from minority groups such as NAACP’s Charlottesville chapter. And sometimes paid support can take another form — such as the fact that <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/entergy-paid-actor-scandal-widens/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Entergy's foundation donated</a> more than a million dollars to at least nine charitable organizations that testified on the plant's behalf, without always disclosing those donations, at the same public meetings now under scrutiny.Brendan DeMelle, DeSmog’s executive director, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/11/17/edelman-transcanada-astroturf-documents-expose-oil-industry-s-broader-attack-public-interest" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">wrote about</a> a 2014 astroturf effort made by communications firm Edelman on behalf of TransCanada for the Energy East tar sands export pipeline (a project <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/10/05/transcanada-cancels-energy-east-oilsands-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ultimately killed in 2017</a>). Documents obtained by Greenpeace outline a “grassroots advocacy” campaign plan to build support for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline, as well as to undermine public opposition to oil and pipelines generally.Entergy’s claim that it didn’t know about the astroturfing effort made on its behalf sounded disingenuous to members of the coalition against the plant whom I spoke with after Entergy released its findings.
Happy Johnson testifying at a New Orleans City Council Meeting against Entergy’s proposed natural gas power plant. FLAnked by 2 cops about to pull him out?!Happy Johnson, author and humanitarian and an outspoken opponent to the gas plant, hopes in light of Entergy’s admission the permit will be reconsidered. According to Johnson, at the next council meeting on May 24, opponents plan to make their case to the newly seated city council that the permit needs to be revoked. “With this kind of trickery, I hope the new council will do the right thing and take another look,” Johnson said.
</div>=N Mining A NMAhttp://www.countoncoal.org/about-us/astroturf swamp thingDoug Matheney now works as a top assistant to Perry after previously serving as the state coordinator for the Count on Coal <a href="http://www.countoncoal.org/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(195, 171, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">initiative</a>. He also worked as a coordinator for the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.=astroturf:The Palm Beach Post‘s Christine Stapleton <a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reports</a> that the “Tea Party” protesters outside of the South Florida Water Management District on Thursday were, by and large, actors hired by the <a href="http://www.teaparty-miami.org/about-1.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Tea Party of Miami</a> and U.S. Sugar.  <a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/">http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/</a>The district is currently considering buying land owned by U.S. Sugar, which it would use for the treatment and storage of lake flood water. Environmentalist <a href="http://florida.newszap.com/clewiston/138821-113/can-purchasing-us-sugars-land-fix-south-floridas-water-problems" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">believe</a> that using the land in this way will allow them to divert more water into the Everglades without harming coastal estuaries. The water would not only help replenish the Everglades, it would also provide an emergency reserve drinking supply for South Florida.But U.S. Sugar wants to keep the land, arguing that as one of the area’s largest employers, it is in the district’s best interests not to exercise the $350 million buy-out option in its contract. Tea Party Miami:STOP THE LAND GRAB PROTEST - WEST PALM BEACH - BE THERE APRIL 2Radical Environmentalists want the State to divert $500 M from Everglades Restoration programs to buy 46,000 acres that will have little or no impact on Everglades clean-up. A shady Liberal New York Hedge Fund billionaire with a murky past as a polluter is paying top aides to Obama and Charlie Cris to wage a multimillion dollar TV campaign of disinformation to fool Florida Voters. Court mandated water tests show...<a class="see_more_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?app_id=&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F6Dg4oLkBbYq.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df367aca318%26domain%3Dwww.alternet.org%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.alternet.org%252Ff61787fac%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=500&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D646218975506186%26id%3D643576382437112&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&width=500#" data-ft="{" tn="tn" e="e" role="button" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">See More</a><a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar">...</a><a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar">http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar</a>art'l : More than 50 actors from a Broward County acting group were paid $75 each to protest outside the South Florida Water Management District on Thursday about a controversial land deal they knew little about.The protest was called by the <a href="http://www.teaparty-miami.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Tea Party of Miami</a> and Florida Citizens Against Waste, a recently formed group that has no contact information on its website and is not registered to do business in Florida. rentamob  <a href="http://grist.org/news/cool-job-posting-earn-20-pretending-to-hate-wind-energy/">http://grist.org/news/cool-job-posting-earn-20-pretending-to-hate-wind-energy/</a> = <h1 class="print-title" style="margin-bottom: 0.2em;">=</h1><h1 class="print-title" style="margin-bottom: 0.2em;">The Nicotine Network</h1> <div class="dek" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">How Big Tobacco and Republican congressional leaders help each other gain power.</div>By <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/authors/peter-h-stone" rel="author">Peter H. Stone</a> | Tue Apr. 30, 1996 11:00 PM PDT<hr class="print-hr" /><div class="print-content"><div id="node-20338" class="node node-type-html node-type-article-full"><div class="node-inner clear-block"><div class="content clear-block"><div class="field field-type-text field-field-short-body"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd">Just four blocks from the headquarters of RJR Nabisco in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a small company called the Ramhurst Corp., which has been playing an instrumental role in the beleaguered tobacco behemoth's political fortunes. Its key mission: to quash the biggest political and financial challenges the tobacco industry has ever faced--from federal efforts to regulate tobacco at the Food and Drug Administration to state attempts to impose excise taxes and smoking restrictions. Launched in 1993 with the support of RJR, Ramhurst--which coordinates many of its activities closely with RJR--combines "grassroots" lobbying with inside-the-Beltway influence-peddling. "Grassroots" coalitions have become a vital tool for tobacco's survival because of the industry's increasingly negative public image. By forming coalitions with business groups, conservative activist organizations, and other industries, tobacco companies like RJR obtain useful cover and, in effect, go from being a "black hat" to a "white hat" in the political world. </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-article-text"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd">Ramhurst occupies a special niche among grassroots organizers for tobacco, however: Its operatives have also forged ties with some of the most powerful GOP leaders in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and Arizona Rep. John Shadegg, Newt Gingrich's hand-picked choice to succeed him as director of the powerful political action committee GOPAC. Most significantly, a key Ramhurst operative has been tapped to head House Majority Whip Tom DeLay's leadership PAC, considered by many the pre-eminent fundraising vehicle in the GOP, after Newt Gingrich's money machine.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><hr class="print-hr" /><div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/05/nicotine-network">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/05/nicotine-network</a></div> =
NW coal fronts/PR firms

 <h1 class="entry-title">Look Who’s Taking Coal Money</h1><div class="kicker">The face of the coal industry in the Northwest.</div><div class="entry-meta"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/eric-de-place/" title="Posts by Eric de Place">Eric de Place</a> and <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/nickabraham/" title="Posts by Nick Abraham">Nick Abraham</a> on December 13, 2012 at 1:00 am</div><div class="series-label">This post is part of the research project: <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/projects/northwest-coal-exports">Northwest Coal Exports</a></div>This is great: the redoubtable Joel Connelly, over at the <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/">Seattle P-I</a>, is on the case. Take a look at his story: <a title="Permalink to Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work”: study" href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/12/13/seattle-pr-firms-are-doing-coals-dirty-work-study/" rel="bookmark">Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work.”</a>If ever an industry needed good PR, <a href="http://grist.org/coal/2011-09-30-coal-is-enemy-of-human-race-mainstream-economics-edition/">it’s coal</a>.The industry can’t hope to promote its own coal export schemes in the Northwest so instead it buys support from local consulting and PR firms willing to do coal’s dirty work. By taking money from Big Coal, these firms—many of which have carefully groomed reputations for sustainability and public-interest work—have themselves become a part of the coal industry.Most of these firms might rather not have the public know about the work they do, with the blinds pulled down, on behalf of out-of-state coal giants. After all, their livelihoods depend on appealing to green-minded governments, nonprofits, and businesses in the Northwest. So as an exercise in letting in the sunlight—and as a sort of caveat emptor for clients—here is a look at the Northwest’s homegrown coal industry.EdelmanThe <a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm">world’s largest</a> independent PR firm,<a href="http://www.edelman.com/"> Edelman</a> operates with a dizzying hypocrisy that is on bold display in its <a href="http://www.edelman.com/office/seattle/">Seattle office</a>. Although CEO Richard Edelman <a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/editorial/1122edelman-deadly-spin-distorts-pr-field.html">says publicly</a>: “I do not subscribe to the use of front groups to cover up the true intent of a client,” the firm is in fact <a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all">the shadowy force behind</a> the newly constituted front group <a href="http://createnwjobs.com/">Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports</a> (ANJE). The <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/26/astroturf-group-media-blitz-for-coal-exports/">Seattlepi.com calls ANJE an “astroturf” group</a> for its work supporting the proposal to ship 48 million tons of coal each year from Cherry Point.<div class="post-middle-widgets"><div class="widget-holder"><div class="textwidget">Do you find this article interesting? <a href="https://donationpay.org/sightline/?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_campaign=MiddleBlog26377">Please consider making a gift to support our work.</a></div></div></div>Edelman has a <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-09/wal-marts-jim-and-laura-the-real-storybusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice">well-documented</a> <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/20/news/companies/walmart_blogs/index.htm">history</a> of astroturf activities and although its name is mentioned nowhere on ANJE’s glossy website, multiple news agencies (<a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all">here</a> and <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/11/12/coal-ports/111355/coal-ports-hearings-environmental-scoping/?page=2">here</a>) report that the firm manages the group. In fact, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lauri-hennessey/6/321/1b">Edelman vice-president Lauri Hennessey</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKyWygZicqY">identifies herself</a> in public—and is routinely cited in the media—as a spokesperson for ANJE (<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/03/fight-intensifies-over-whether-northwest-should-become-us-coal-export-hub/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.inlander.com/spokane/blog-7192-day-laborers-being-used-as-pro-coal-placeholders-for-todays-public-hearing.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/04/shipping-of-coal-topic-of-hearing">here</a>, and <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20121119/washington-state-coal-export-terminals-northwest-governor-jay-inslee-clean-energy-economy-oregon-california-epa">here</a>). (Hennessey also runs her own PR firm—<a href="http://www.hennesseypr.com/section_about/about_intro.htm">Hennessey Communications</a>—where she touts her environmental values.)Berk Consulting
Seattle-based <a href="http://berkconsulting.com/">Berk Consulting</a> takes coal money. The firm produced a <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Economic_Study-Executive_Summary.pdf">economic analysis</a> for Millennium Bulk Terminals, the company that wants to ship 44 million tons of coal annually from a site on the Columbia River. Opponents have <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/07/12/coal-ports/109550/coal-ports-trains-seattle-edmonds-bellingham/?page=1">disputed</a> the Berk study, arguing that it fails to consider <a href="http://www.heavytrafficahead.org/pdf/Heavy-Traffic-Ahead-web.pdf">traffic impacts</a> and <a href="http://powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/WORC-Exporting-PRB-Coal-Risks-and-CostsFINALFINAL9-111.pdf">economic costs</a>, both public and private.Nyhus CommunicationsWith offices in Seattle and Washington, DC, <a href="http://www.nyhus.com/">Nyhus Communications</a> features a website with rotating photos of renewable energy projects and green hero Van Jones. Yet Nyhus also carries water for coal interests, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/arch-coal-elects-deck-slone-as-svp/article_89e596ce-8d47-11e1-a22b-0019bb30f31a.html">working with Arch Coal</a> (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/oira_0710/0710_12062011-1.pdf">p73</a>) to promote coal shipments from Longview. Nyhus is also <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/move-forward-washington-coalition-created-to-promote-international-trade-in-washington-162219395.html">actively involved</a> with <a href="http://www.moveforwardwashington.org/">Move Forward Washington</a>, a newly minted group that emphasizes coal among other exports. (One founding member of the group is <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/">Millennium Bulk Terminals</a>.)Gallatin Public Affairs<a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/">Gallatin</a> is a natural fit with the coal industry. The firm has a history of pushing through controversial projects, including Monsanto’s <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/gallatin-public-affairs/03A9E5E6-1408-4E9C-A6FF-282A898BC6A5">Blackfoot Bridge phosphate mine</a> and Formation Metals’ <a href="http://www.formationmetals.com/s/News.asp?ReportID=122037">Cobalt Mine proposal</a>. So it’s no surprise that Gallatin has gone to work for Millenium Bulk Terminals’ coal project in Longview, Washington.The most troubling dimension to Gallatin’s role may be partner <a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">Bruce Grynie</a><a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">wiski</a>. He’s the former head of Washington Conservation Voters and a current board member of the <a href="http://mtsgreenway.org/">Mountains to Sound Greenway</a>. He says that he joined Gallatin to “win support for even the most controversial projects.”He’s trying to do just that. Gryniewiski is the prime mover in Gallatin’s efforts to put 44 million tons of coal on the Columbia River each year to be burned at power plants in Asia. He is<a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false"> listed as lobbyist</a> and also as a <a href="http://tdn.com/news/local/millenium-to-restart-coal-terminal-permit-process/article_abb5534c-4f5f-11e0-b8ef-001cc4c03286.html">spokesperson</a> for the coal company.ECONorthwestA Portland-based economic consulting firm, <a href="http://www.econw.com/">ECONorthwest</a> has a long history of work supporting conservation, so many were surprised to learn the firm took money from Ambre Energy to produce an <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/economy">economic impact analysis</a>. ECONorthwest’s analysis has become a key piece of support for the <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/">Morrow Pacific Project</a>, a complicated scheme to move as much as 8 million tons of coal annually in barges on the Columbia River for onward shipment to coal plants in Asia.Gard CommunicationsHeadquartered in Portland, <a href="http://www.gardcommunications.com/">Gard Communications</a> is <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/uncategorized/press-release-12612">the public face</a> for Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific Project. The firm produces a range of publicity materials and president Brian Gard himself appears to be acting as Ambre’s press flak for the project. Gard has the distinction of being the only Northwest consulting firm so far to attract attention for its coal work when several Portland groups <a href="http://www.portlandoccupier.org/2012/09/19/speaking-power-to-truth-brian-gard-and-ambre-energy/">protested</a> it.Strategies 360Headquartered in Seattle, the <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/">Strategies 360</a> consulting group has done some worthy environmental work in the past, even sponsoring <a href="http://www.ecotrust.org/">Ecotrust</a>‘s <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/blog/uncategorized/ecotrust-honors-native-american-leaders-at-indigenous-leadership-awards-dinner/">annual leadership award in 2011</a>. Less well known is the firm’s work in the coal industry. <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/steuerwalt.html">Matt Steuerwalt</a>, former climate and energy adviser to Gov. Gregoire, was the lead <a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false">lobbyist</a> for RailAmerica’s plan to ship 5 million tons of coal from Gray’s Harbor to Asian power plants. After months of <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/port-officials-wondering-about-railamerica%E2%80%99s-coal-intent.html">delay and confusion</a>, <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/railamerica-drops-pursuit-coal-terminal-grays-harbor.html">the plan collapsed</a>.Drawing a line in the sky.Climate activist Bill McKibben makes <a href="http://math.350.org/">a forceful case for divestment</a>—removing fossil fuel companies from big institutional portfolios, helping to starve them of the cash they require to continue damaging the global climate.Yet divestment need not be all about multinational fossil fuel corporations. It could take the form of withholding support from the consultants and publicists who act as the Northwest front for coal exports. What if Portland State University stopped working with Gard Communications? What if Forterra backed away from Nyhus? What if the Seattle Parks Department severed ties with Berk, and King County fired ECONorthwest?Imagine a Northwest where local governments, nonprofits, and farsighted corporations drew a sort of line in the sky, refusing to do business with the coal industry—including its local agents. Losing even a client or two might be enough to induce more local firms to refuse coal money. Denied Northwest connections and credible local advocates, the <a title="Coal Exports Are Bigger Threat Than Tar Sands Pipeline" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2011/11/16/coal-exports-are-bigger-threat-than-tar-sands-pipeline/">hugely destructive export plans</a> would have more difficulty gaining traction in a region that has long prided itself on its growing clean-energy economy. Perhaps this form of divestment could speed the day when all of Cascadia says “no” to a dirty, climate-wrecking fuel whose highest and best use is to hold up the ground in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

  TPMmuckracker is also <a href="http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/economic_freedom_fund/">tracking</a> this group. http://www.patriotproject.com/ oppose restrictions on smoking in public places, through a front group called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Smokers_Alliance" title="National Smokers Alliance">National Smokers Alliance</a>, which was created by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller" title="Burson-Marsteller">Burson-Marsteller</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bonner%26_Associates">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bonner%26_Associates</a> tea party Tea Party Express is the name for a public relations blitz in 2009 via a cross-country caravan of buses and cars making 35 stops for rallies featured on conservative media. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Patriots" title="Tea Party Patriots">Tea Party Patriots</a> (TPP) is a conservative group initially organized by Freedomworks, which was responsible for organizing the anti-healthcare reform town hall mobs that occurred during the congressional recess period in August, 2009.This is one tour among several recent, simultaneous, or future scheduled tours. There are several astroturf organizations sending buses around in their own names. See also <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity" title="Americans For Prosperity" class="mw-redirect">Americans For Prosperity</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hot_Air_Balloon_Tour&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hot Air Balloon Tour (page does not exist)">Hot Air Balloon Tour</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a>; <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity" title="Americans For Prosperity" class="mw-redirect">Americans For Prosperity</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patients_First" title="Patients First">Patients First</a> Bus Tour<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>; and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Alliance" title="American Energy Alliance">American Energy Alliance</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Express&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Energy Express (page does not exist)">American Energy Express</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html</a> <cite>www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04...</cite> <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpolitics%2Farchive%2F2009%2F04%2Fthe-tea-party-movement-whos-in-charge%2F13041%2F&ei=5zlUTNONLo-ksQPzjrHaAg&usg=AFQjCNFHdd9bEb1-ZaYMSIRhPuFBNHq6Rw">http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpolitics%2Farchive%2F2009%2F04%2Fthe-tea-party-movement-whos-in-charge%2F13041%2F&ei=5zlUTNONLo-ksQPzjrHaAg&usg=AFQjCNFHdd9bEb1-ZaYMSIRhPuFBNHq6Rw</a> --- <a href="http://www.campusprogress.org/know5things/3909/astroturf-tea-parties">http://www.campusprogress.org/know5things/3909/astroturf-tea-parties</a> Know Five Things 1. The tea parties are organized by two large, well-funded, lobbyist-run think tanks.[<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/">Think Progress</a>]<ul><li>Americans for Prosperity: This group, run by Ralph Reed’s former lobbying partner Tim Phillips, is handling the PR and planning the events in the following states: New Jersey, Arizona, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas</li></ul><ul><li>Freedom Works: This group is run by former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey. They have a) set up Web sites to promote the events that are supposed to look as if they’ve been set up by amateurs; b) written how-to guides and talking points for the events; c) coordinated conference calls among protesters and activists to give them “sign ideas, sample press releases, and a map of events around the country.”</li></ul>2. Free Publicity and Hype on Fox News<ul><li>Media Matters has documented the aggressive promotion of the anti-tax protests on Fox News: “Fox News has in dozens of instances provided attendance and organizing information for future protests, such as protest dates, locations and website URLs. Fox News websites have also posted information and publicity material for protests. Fox News hosts have repeatedly encouraged viewers to join them at several April 15 protests that they are attending and covering.” [<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904080025?f=h_top">Media Matters</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>Promising “fair and balanced” coverage, hosts such as Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto, and Sean Hannity are all planning to broadcast live from the events. Fox News commentator Neil Cavuto defends the network’s coverage, saying Fox News covered the Million Man March, so it should be able to cover the tea parties. News Hounds, however, points out that the Million Man March took place on Oct. 16, 1995, while Fox News wasn’t created until Oct. 7, 1996. [<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/cavuto-million-man/">Think Progress</a>] [<a target="blank" href="http://www.newshounds.us/2009/04/12/neil_cavuto_claims_fox_news_coverage_for_tea_parties_same_as_for_million_man_march_but_fnc_did_not_exist_at_time_of_million_man_march.php">News Hounds</a>]</li></ul>3. Heavy Involvement From GOP Leaders<ul><li>To stress the grassroots nature of the anti-tax protests, Fox News has stressed the event has no partisan agenda.</li><li>The Hill reports that the NRCC is using the event to raise money. The group sent an e-mail to supporters with a link to show them any local tea parties, then asked, “You cannot afford to allow the Democrats to continue their fiscally insanity. Please consider contributing $15, $25, $50 or more as we fight for you.” [<a target="blank" href="http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/04/14/nrcc-urges-supporters-to-join-tea-parties/#more-15531">The Hill</a>]</li><li>An article on their Web site claimed “only two members of Congress — both Republicans — who have committed to attending the demonstrations on the day income taxes are due.” [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/tax-day-tea-party-protests-garner-support-repulican-lawmakers/">Fox News</a>]</li><li>On Fox’s show America’s Newsroom, host Megyn Kelly repeated the claim that “only two members of Congress have agreed to join in, in these events, one of them is South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.” [<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/kelly-fox-tea-party/">Think Progress</a>]</li><li>Progressive blogs quickly found at least 12 GOP lawmakers involved in the protests.</li><li>Fox News then “corrected” its story, saying, “Editor’s Note: Following this FOXNews.com report, the Republican Study Committee surveyed 110 members and found 38 lawmakers who say they will participate in tea party activities on tax day.” [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/tax-day-tea-party-protests-garner-support-repulican-lawmakers/">Fox News</a>]</li><li>
</li></ul>4. What Do The Protesters Want?<ul><li>Anti-TARP bailout. According to the Web site, the biggest complaint is about the $700 billion TARP bailout of the banks (which happened more than 6 months ago at the behest of George W. Bush.)</li><li>Anti-Obama. From Paul Krugman: “Thus, President Obama is being called a ’socialist’ who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration. Bizarre.”</li><li>Anti-Stimulus. Another complaint is against the package designed to create 3.5 million jobs in the U.S.</li><li>
</li><li>Pro-Tax Cuts. Following a link from the Tea Party web site takes you to a “Tool Kit For Tea Parties,” on a site hosted by Newt Gingrich’s group “American Solutions.” Their solutions include: Tax cuts. Getting rid of the Capital Gains tax. Killing the Employee Free Choice Act. More drilling. Getting rid of Sarbanes-Oxley, the 2002 law created in the wake of the Enron scandals to provide oversight of large public corporations. [<a target="blank" href="http://www.americansolutions.com/directupload/pdf/12SolutionsPrintoutFinal.pdf">American Solutions</a>]</li></ul>5. Polls show “regular people” aren’t as interested in the protests.<ul><li>A Fox News poll released on April 2 found only 36 percent of Americans said they would “be willing to join” a “tea party” protest. [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/040209_FNCPoll.pdf">Fox News</a>]</li><li>
</li></ul>Also:
Think Progress compiled a list of involved lawmakers and their venues. Also, “the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported yesterday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will be appearing at tea party protests as well. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) have also been urging their constituents to attend tea party protests while Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is sponsoring a bill in Congress to honor the protests.” [http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/kelly-fox-tea-party/]<ul><li>Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Salt Lake City.</li><li>Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and a representative from Rep. Sam Graves’ (R-MO) office, Overland Park</li><li>Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), Shreveport</li><li>Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), Jacksonville</li><li>Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), Wauseon</li><li>Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Phoenix</li><li>Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), Charlotte</li><li>Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), Brevard</li><li>Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Longview</li><li>Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), Columbia.</li></ul>----- flacks <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell</a> Woodward & McDowell is a political <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Public relations">public relations</a> firm that works on behalf of the nation's top corporations to help them do "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grassroots" title="Grassroots">grassroots</a>" organizing and push through ballot measures. Clients include the California <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chamber_of_Commerce" class="mw-redirect" title="Chamber of Commerce">Chamber of Commerce</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ExxonMobil" class="mw-redirect" title="ExxonMobil">ExxonMobil</a>, Dow Chemical, Monsanto, ConocoPhillips, the Western States Petroleum Association. It promotes itself as a "ballot measure and issue advocacy" firm.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>Woodward & McDowell has assisted the tobacco industry in defeating measures designed to safeguard public health. = ANTI-GREEN <div id="content-header"><h1 class="title">Wingnuts in Sheep's Clothing</h1></div><div id="content-area" class="clear-block"><div id="node-15137" class="node node-type-article node-type-article-full"><div class="node-inner clear-block"><div class="content clear-block"><div id="node-header" class="clear-block"><div id="node-header-data" class="node-header-data-primary">Meet the kooks and corporations behind the astroturf group called ECO.— By <a href="http://motherjones.com/authors/keith-hammond">Keith Hammond</a> <div class="comment-bar nonteaser-comment-bar"><div id="node-body-top" class="clear-block"><div id="dateline">Thu Dec. 4, 1997 12:00 AM PST</div>It's not easy being green -- the brown opposition is well-funded and sneaky, with <a href="http://motherjones.com/news/feature/1997/11/silverstein.html">fake populist tactics</a> that make it hard to spot the wolf in sheep's clothing. To learn more about the astroturf groups who are lobbying against the Kyoto global warming treaty, we contacted the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research (CLEAR). A project of the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., CLEAR ferrets out anti-environmental groups and their funders: the mining, logging, petrochemical, and land-developing industries who profit from pollution and wilderness destruction. Starting with Henry Lamb's perversely named Environmental Conservation Organization, we trace here the interlocking directorates -- and corporate sponsors -- of some of the extremist groups who'll give up their carbon-spewing smokestack when you pry it out of their cold, dead hands:</div><div id="node-body-break"><div id="node-body-bottom"><img src="/74fb1372-4489-5158-82a7-4925784457be.gif"/>CHART COMPILED BY DAN BARRY, CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH (CLEAR)Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) The brainchild of property-rights firebrand Henry Lamb, ECO is an anti-environmental umbrella outfit counting <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/pub/static/CLEAR/ECORG.nhtml">more than 300</a> Wise Use groups as members, with a phone and fax network and a monthly newsletter called Eco-logic, which promotes Wise Use efforts to stop the global warming treaty, and Lamb's conspiracy theories of a United Nations New World Order. Funded by: Allnet Telecommunications, Land Improvement Contractors of America, American Farm Bureau Federation.Henry Lamb A former executive with the Land Improvement Contractors of America, Lamb co-founded Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) in 1990 as a front group for land developers to fight Clean Water Act protections for wetlands, then turned it into a network for Wise Use groups nationwide. He recently co-founded Sovereignty International Inc., an anti-United Nations property-rights group. Prominent in the anti-environmental and property-rights movements, Lamb publishes newsletters and gives radio interviews attacking the U.N.'s Man and the Biosphere Program, World Heritage Treaty, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Convention on Climate Change.
Staff Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Executive Vice President
Board Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Directors
National Wilderness Institute, National Advisory Board
Sovereignty International, Chairman of the Board
 Steve Symms The former U.S. senator from Idaho, elected in the 1980 "Reagan Revolution," was the voice of the anti-environmental movement on Capitol Hill and the champion of various failed "takings" bills. His signal achievement was a bill that built new off-road vehicle (ORV) trails in the national forests. Retired in 1992, today he sits on the boards of a half-dozen of the most arch-conservative, anti-environmental groups in the country. Symms' specialty is defending individual property rights at any cost.
Staff Member of:
Freedom Alliance, President
Board Member of:
Defenders of Property Rights, National Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
National Wilderness Institute, National Advisory Board
Freedom Alliance, Board
American Conservative Union, Board of Directors
American Policy Center, Chair of the Board
 Nancie Marzulla A Justice Department attorney in the Reagan administration and a veteran of the Wise Use litigators the Mountain States Legal Foundation, Nancie Marzulla co-founded the Defenders of Property Rights (DPR) in 1991 with her husband Roger, who served as assistant attorney general under Ed Meese.
Staff Member of:
Defenders of Property Rights, President and Chief Legal Counsel
Board Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
American Land Foundation, Property Rights Task Force Member
 Fred Singer A former University of Virginia professor and former chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dr. S. Fred Singer is one of a half-dozen preeminent doubters of ozone depletion and global warming science. Singer claims science skeptics like him are being silenced by a conspiracy of feds, enviros, and liberal journalists. Today he heads the Science and Environmental Policy Project, advises several corporate-funded science mills, and rails against global warming science. For this he's amply rewarded: In 1994 Nightline revealed that Singer has accepted consulting fees from Exxon, Shell, Arco, Unocal, and Sun Oil.
Staff Member of:
Science and Environmental Policy Project, Director
Board Member of:
American Council on Science and Health, Board of Scientific and Policy Advisors
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, Scientist Advisor
Cato Institute, Editorial Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
National Policy Forum, Member of Environment Committee
Science and Environmental Policy Project, Board of Directors
 Hugh Ellsaesser A meteorologist and guest scientist at California's Lawrence Livermore nuclear laboratory, Dr. Hugh Ellsaesser is another widely quoted global warming skeptic. He doesn't deny that CO2 buildup causes global warming -- he argues that we should just sit back and enjoy it. He's also a scientific advisor to the Lyndon LaRouche group 21st Century Science Associates, which publishes an anti-environmental magazine promoting LaRouche's wacky <a href="http://www.publiceye.org/pra/larouche/nclc3.html">Neo-Nazi</a> cult.
Board Member of:
21st Century Science Associates, Scientific Advisory Board
Consumer Alert, Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
George C. Marshall Institute, Science Advisory Board
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, Advisor
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Scientific Advisor
 <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Soveregn.htm">Sovereignty International Inc.</a>
Property-rights group Sovereignty International Inc. (SII) is a leading promoter of United Nations paranoia, claiming that environmental regulations are part of a plot to establish a "one world government" -- a theme echoed by militia groups nationwide. SII was founded by ECO's Henry Lamb; the American Sheep Industry Association's Tom McDonnell, who has collaborated with LaRouche propagandist Rogelio Maduro to attack U.N. biodiversity programs; and Dr. Michael Coffman, who did a speaking tour this summer sponsored by the John Birch Society. His topic: The U.N.-corporate-environmentalist conspiracy to seize control of private land in America, hand it over to wild animals, and herd all the humans into crowded communities. SII's <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Soveregn.htm">Web site</a> consists of a single malfunctioning page on the server of Liberty Matters, a property-rights project. Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.nwi.org/">National Wilderness Institute</a>
Dedicated to wilderness destruction, NWI boasts a board of heavy hitters including Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Reps. Dick Armey (R-Texas) and Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), and former Bureau of Land Management honcho Don Hodel, architect of the famed Hodel policy which allowed county governments to bulldoze new roads across federal wilderness lands. Today NWI attacks the Endangered Species Act and the U.N. Biodiversity Convention, defends the petroleum economy, and publishes <a href="http://www.nwi.org/resource.html">NWI Resource</a> magazine, with articles like "The Magic of Property Rights" and "Ecosystems: Where Do They End?" Funded by: Hardwood Manufacturers Association.<a href="http://www.conservative.org/">American Conservative Union</a>
With board members like Ralph Reed, Becky Norton Dunlop, Tom Clancy, Jesse Helms, and Newt mentor Grover Norquist, you pretty much know where the ACU is coming from, but on global warming they've staked out a <a href="http://www.conservative.org/conservative/press/Press103097.html">unique position</a>: "I can just see it now -- some guy in the Pentagon says, 'I'm sorry, Mr. President. If you want to send that extra carrier battle group into the area, we'll have to shut down the electric power grid to California for two weeks to stay under our emission caps.'" Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/">American Policy Center</a>
Chaired by another extreme-right demagogue, Thomas DeWeese, this property-rights propaganda mill makes no bones about it: There is no global warming, there's a global leftist conspiracy to deceive the American people and wreck our economy -- for reasons that remain unclear. To protest the treaty negotiations in Kyoto, APC has called a nationwide "<a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/plate.main/StrikeForliberty/StrikeLtr.html">Strike for Liberty</a>" on Dec. 6; patriotic citizens "can participate simply by wearing red, white and blue arm bands, or driving their cars with the lights on, blowing the horn." Web site bonus: An <a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/plate.main/StrikeForliberty/AlGore.html">amazing screed</a> accusing Al Gore of genocide. APC also publishes EPA Watch, a survey of environmental regulatory activities, and Foreign Policy Focus,an anti-U.N. nativist newsletter. Funded by: Unknown.Freedom Alliance
Founded by Oliver North, the Freedom Alliance passes as a right-wing think-tank and citizens group, but mostly it's the direct-mail fundraising machine that grew out of Ollie North's legal defense mailings in the Iran-contra affair. Its newsletter, The Free American, promotes North's political ambitions and attacks gays and other unholy types. In one issue, Freedom Alliance president and former Senator Steve Symms attacked the Supreme Court for overturning Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2 ballot measure: "Now, because of their perverted lifestyle, a minority of citizens is granted special treatment in soliciting state contracts. Does this make sense?" Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.defendersproprights.org/">Defenders of Property Rights</a>
Founded by Reagan Justice Department lawyers Roger and Nancie Marzulla in 1991, Defenders of Property Rights is part of a national network of right-wing law firms and legal foundations that serve as a pro bono Wise Use legal defense fund. DPR pursues anti-environmental lawsuits through the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, a conservative court whose 16 judges were all appointed by Reagan and Bush; DPR's directors reportedly plan strategy at an annual meeting sponsored by the Heritage Foundation. Funded by: Carthage Foundation, Hardwood Manufacturers Association.American Land Foundation
Founded by property rights leader Dan Byfield, ALF (formerly the Farm Credit Property Rights Foundation) underwrites anti-environmental research and boasts a who's who of the movement on its property rights task force. Last year ALF <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Press%20release%20Final.html">teamed</a> with two other Wise Use groups to form <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/">Liberty Matters Inc.</a>, yet another Wise Use networking effort, with a fax news service and a focus on feeding stories to small-town and conservative media about the evils of environmentalism, especially when it bears the taint of the U.N. Today Liberty Matters sponsors two segments -- and chooses the guests -- on the program "Morning View" on Paul Weyrich's conservative NET cable channel. Appearing this Friday: Dr. Michael Coffman of Sovereignty International. Funded by: Unknown<a href="http://www.acsh.org/">American Council on Science and Health</a>
Led by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, this corporate-funded science mill stoutly defends silicone breast implants, DDT, and of course, the polluting technologies that cause global warming. In a <a href="http://www.acsh.org/publications/reports/global.html">new report</a>, ACSH scientists accept global warming as real, but argue that we should just "adapt" to climate change and learn to live with any increase in catastrophic weather and infectious diseases -- for the sake of the "global economic system." Incredibly, one of the authors is an M.D. Funded by: <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/FoxProCGI.acgi%24run_module%3Fdata_code%3DCLEAR%26extra_code%3Dgroup_code%3DORG176%26the_type%3DGroup%26">Scores of major corporations</a> and conservative foundations, including Exxon, Mobil, Ford, and the Olin and Scaife foundations.<a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato Institute</a>
This libertarian think-tank is well-known for defending private property and the unmitigated free market. It's also home to <a href="http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-pm110697.html">Dr. Patrick Michaels</a>, a leading skeptic who argues that global warming models are fatally flawed, and that we should take no action because new technologies will soon replace those that emit greenhouse gases. Funded by: <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/FoxProCGI.acgi%24run_module%3Fdata_code%3DCLEAR%26extra_code%3Dgroup_code%3DORG396%26the_type%3DGroup%26">Scores</a> of major corporations and conservative foundations, including Amoco, ARCO, Dow Chemical, and the Koch family foundation.<a href="http://www.his.com/_sepp/">Science and Environmental Policy Project</a>
This corporate science mill began in 1990 as an offshoot of the Moonie-funded think-tank Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy. Its goal is to discredit global warming, ozone depletion, and acid rain. Its director, physicist Dr. S. Fred Singer, is a former chief scientist for the Department of Transportation who has received thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" from Exxon, Shell, Arco, Unocal, and <a href="http://motherjones.com/news_wire/sunoco.html">Sunoco</a>. Singer lambastes global warming science in regular <a href="http://www.his.com/_{sepp/glwarm/glwarm.html">editorials</a>&nbsp};in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Times. Funded by: Monsanto, Texaco, Philip Morris, and the Bradley, Forbes, and Smith Richardson foundations.<a href="http://www.junkscience.com/">The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition</a>
TASCC director Steven Milloy, a cheerleader for rolling back environmental regulations in the 104th Congress, calls himself "The Junkman," and his Web site "Junk Science" sounds that familiar refrain: Thousands of scientists are wrong about global warming, and a handful of polluter-funded scientists have it all figured out. Funded by: 3M, Amoco, Chevron, Dow, Exxon, General Motors, Philip Morris and other big corporations.21st Century Science Associates
This Lyndon LaRouche group publishes the anti-environmental magazine 21st Century Science & Technology, which in addition to promoting LaRouche's wacky <a href="http://www.publiceye.org/pra/larouche/nclc3.html">Neo-Nazi</a> cult and global conspiracy theories, is home to associate editor Rogelio Maduro, author of The Holes in the Ozone Scare. That book became Rush Limbaugh's ozone bible. Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.consumeralert.org/index.htm">Consumer Alert</a>
This astroturf group calls global warming science "scare stories" and funds the Web site <a href="http://www.globalwarming.org/index.htm">Globalwarming.org</a>, with a bi-weekly update called "May Cooler Heads Prevail." Consumer Alert's networking project, the <a href="http://www.consumeralert.org/NCC/index.htm">National Consumer Coalition</a>, formed the so-called Cooler Heads Coalition in May, "to dispel the myths of global warming." Cooler Heads is run by a vice president from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a longtime sponsor of the Wise Use movement. Funded by: American Cyanamid, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Chevron, Monsanto, Philip Morris, and other big corporations.<a href="http://www.marshall.org/">George C. Marshall Institute</a>
As David Helvarg <a href="http://motherjones.com/news/feature/1997/11/index.html">reported</a> in last week's MoJo Wire, the George C. Marshall Institute is another conservative think-tank, a long-time "Star Wars" promoter and the first player to attack the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/cc95/cont-95.htm">1995 finding</a> that human activity is probably changing the climate already. Funded by: Scaife and Bradley foundations.Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
A pseudoscience think-tank funded in part by the nuclear industry, CFACT says the real disaster would be the Climate Change Treaty, because "any proposed cuts in greenhouse gases...would have a major, indeed catastrophic, negative impact on people worldwide." CFACT's president David Rothbard defends <a href="http://motherjones.com/news_wire/velsicol.html">organochlorine pesticides</a>, champions the bovine growth hormone BST, and calls environmentalists "green locusts." Funded by: Carthage Foundation, U.S. Council on Energy Awareness.ALSO AMONG THE LEADING OPPONENTS TO THE GLOBAL WARMING TREATY:Coalition for Vehicle Choice
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Frontiers of Freedom Institute
National Center for Public Policy Research
People for the West!
Robert Balling, Jr.
Dr. Patrick Michaels
 
The <a href="http://www.ewg.org/pub/home/clear/clear.html">Environmental Working Group's CLEAR</a> site tracks hundreds of anti-environmental groups and their funders, complete with a searchable database. <a href="http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/">EPA's global warming Web site</a> explains the science of global warming and the international effort to control it. <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/feature/climate.html">Corporate Watch's Kyoto site</a> tracks big-business influence on the treaty negotiations.</div></div></div></div></div><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1998Q2/clear.html">http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1998Q2/clear.html</a>
---- alternetIn addition to Glenn Beck and Americans for Prosperity, a less-noticed player in the health-care drama is Grassfire, another astroturfing outfit, which, <a target="blank" href="http://www.alternet.org/politics/141860/inside_story_on_town_hall_riots:right-wing_shock_troops_do_corporate_america%27s_dirty_work/">as AlterNet reported</a>, organized town-hall disrupters through its <a target="blank" href="http://www.resistnet.com/">ResisNet</a> site. Grassfire is endosed by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, who on September 4, called upon Van Jones to resign, citing Jones' "extremist views".ResistNet is a social-networking hub for the armed patriot movement, as well as racists and paranoids of all stripes. (On the day we visited, we found one video comparing Obama to Hitler, and another featuring a preacher who called him "a half-breed MacDaddy" and called upon "white folks"; to "riot in the streets.") Grassfire is also organizing its members for a <a target="blank" href="http://www.grassfire.org/1112/targets.htm">ground assault on cap-and-trade</a>.</div></div></div></div><div>=</div><div>=
<div><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf</a> ----<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On February 21, the New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to uphold approval of Entergy's proposed natural gas power plant, which faces a growing number of lawsuits, and passed a resolution to impose a $5 million fine on the company for its role in a <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">paid-actors scandal</a>.
<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign">https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/10/entergy-natural-gas-power-plant-new-orleans-astroturfing-campaign</a>
Before the vote, in nearly three hours of often emotional testimony mostly against the plant, many contended that the $5 million fine was not a sufficient punishment. This was in light of the council's commissioned investigation, <a href="https://thelensnola.org/2018/10/29/entergy-investigators-company-knew-or-should-have-known-about-paid-actors-at-council-meetings/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">which concluded the company "knew or should have known</a>" that a subcontractor was paying actors to support its proposed power plant at council meetings.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>Entergy New Orleans, the company that recently <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/03/13/new-orleans-approves-entergy-natural-gas-plant-environmental-racism-climate-change" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">won approval</a> to build a controversial $210 million natural gas power plant in the city, confirmed that actors were paid to show support for this project at public meetings. Though Entergy claims it was unaware of the situation, a public relations firm it hired had paid freelance actors to testify in favor of the project at public meetings. On May 10, Entergy released its <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/NOPS%20Investigation%20Report%20Final%205%2010%202018.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">finding from an internal investigation</a> revealing that the public affairs firm The Hawthorn Group, which it hired to organize “grassroots support” for the natural gas power plant, in fact paid actors to voice and show support for the plant. The Hawthorn Group in turn hired a company called Crowds on Demand to “pay individuals that it recruited to appear and/or speak at those two meetings.”“This activity was undertaken without our knowledge or approval, and I can say unequivocally that it would not have been approved had we known,” Entergy General Counsel Marcus Brown <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/NEWSRELEASE_NOPSReport_5_10_18_FINAL.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">said in a statement</a>. “We do, however, recognize that we ultimately are responsible for the actions of those who act on our behalf, and we are taking immediate steps to prevent a similar situation from happening again.”

Earlier this week, The Lens, an investigative journalism site, <a href="https://thelensnola.org/2018/05/10/entergy-says-a-public-relations-firm-hired-people-to-speak-on-behalf-of-its-new-power-plant/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reported that actors</a> were paid $60 to show up at the meetings, and up to $200 to read a statement at two recent public meetings when critical votes regarding the plant were held.At one meeting in October last year, 50 people wearing orange shirts that read “Clean Energy. Good Jobs. Reliable Power” filled seats in an auditorium, preventing many residents who oppose the project from getting into the room. Entergy plans to build the natural gas power plant in New Orleans East, which is home to majority African-American and Vietnamese communities, raising concerns of environmental racism. Proponents claim the plant would address New Orleans’ energy outage issues, while critics say they could be solved for less money by fixing the city’s ailing transmission system.The Lens reported that the actors had to sign a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4450791-22450478-10209665066210350-1404230592-O.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">non-disclosure agreement</a> and were instructed not to speak to the media or tell anyone they were being paid to attend.Before the admission, Earthjustice <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/FILED-Louisiana-Open-Meetings-Petition-Memo-Proposed-Order.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">filed a lawsuit</a> on behalf of opponents of the power plant, including members of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Sierra Club, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, and 350 New Orleans, in order to void the actions taken at the two meetings, one a city council meeting and another a utility commission meeting.The opponents also sent <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/Ethics_Investigation_Request.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a letter</a> to the Louisiana Attorney General, Buddy Landry, calling for an investigation into who paid for the fake participants, and possible legal and ethical violations. 
Renate Heurich of 350 New Orleans testifying against the gas power plant on March 8, 2018.]

Renate Heurich of <a href="https://350neworleans.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">350 New Orleans </a>doesn’t believe Entergy didn’t know the company’s money was going to paid actors at the public meetings. “I think the corruption goes much deeper than that,” she told me. “Why else would anyone on the council vote ‘yes’ on a project that has no value for the residents of New Orleans?” 

At the March council meeting before the vote for the plant was held, Heurich pleaded with the council not to invest in a fossil fuel infrastructure project in a city already plagued by the effects of climate change. “The vote for the plant, clearly wasn’t based on logic,” Heurich said. “The only one who benefits is Entergy.Astroturfing — secretly paying for efforts to create the illusion of grassroots support — is nothing new, but proving a company like Entergy may be involved can be challenging. Hawthorn, however, has a history of astroturf campaigns on behalf of the energy industry, as pointed out <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/hawthorn-group-pr-firm-paid-actors-new-orleans-entergy/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">by the Energy and Policy Institute</a>. In 2009, the company, paid by the <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-coalition-clean-coal-electricity" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</a>, hired a subcontractor to create the illusion of grassroots support against climate change legislation, which involved forging letters from minority groups such as NAACP’s Charlottesville chapter. And sometimes paid support can take another form — such as the fact that <a href="http://www.energyandpolicy.org/entergy-paid-actor-scandal-widens/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Entergy's foundation donated</a> more than a million dollars to at least nine charitable organizations that testified on the plant's behalf, without always disclosing those donations, at the same public meetings now under scrutiny.Brendan DeMelle, DeSmog’s executive director, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2014/11/17/edelman-transcanada-astroturf-documents-expose-oil-industry-s-broader-attack-public-interest" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">wrote about</a> a 2014 astroturf effort made by communications firm Edelman on behalf of TransCanada for the Energy East tar sands export pipeline (a project <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/10/05/transcanada-cancels-energy-east-oilsands-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ultimately killed in 2017</a>). Documents obtained by Greenpeace outline a “grassroots advocacy” campaign plan to build support for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline, as well as to undermine public opposition to oil and pipelines generally.Entergy’s claim that it didn’t know about the astroturfing effort made on its behalf sounded disingenuous to members of the coalition against the plant whom I spoke with after Entergy released its findings.
Happy Johnson testifying at a New Orleans City Council Meeting against Entergy’s proposed natural gas power plant. FLAnked by 2 cops about to pull him out?!Happy Johnson, author and humanitarian and an outspoken opponent to the gas plant, hopes in light of Entergy’s admission the permit will be reconsidered. According to Johnson, at the next council meeting on May 24, opponents plan to make their case to the newly seated city council that the permit needs to be revoked. “With this kind of trickery, I hope the new council will do the right thing and take another look,” Johnson said.
</div>=N Mining A NMAhttp://www.countoncoal.org/about-us/astroturf swamp thingDoug Matheney now works as a top assistant to Perry after previously serving as the state coordinator for the Count on Coal <a href="http://www.countoncoal.org/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(195, 171, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">initiative</a>. He also worked as a coordinator for the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.=astroturf:The Palm Beach Post‘s Christine Stapleton <a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/" target="blank" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">reports</a> that the “Tea Party” protesters outside of the South Florida Water Management District on Thursday were, by and large, actors hired by the <a href="http://www.teaparty-miami.org/about-1.html" target="blank" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Tea Party of Miami</a> and U.S. Sugar.  <a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/">http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/actors-hired-to-protest-at-water-district-know-lit/nkkkb/</a>The district is currently considering buying land owned by U.S. Sugar, which it would use for the treatment and storage of lake flood water. Environmentalist <a href="http://florida.newszap.com/clewiston/138821-113/can-purchasing-us-sugars-land-fix-south-floridas-water-problems" target="blank" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">believe</a> that using the land in this way will allow them to divert more water into the Everglades without harming coastal estuaries. The water would not only help replenish the Everglades, it would also provide an emergency reserve drinking supply for South Florida.But U.S. Sugar wants to keep the land, arguing that as one of the area’s largest employers, it is in the district’s best interests not to exercise the $350 million buy-out option in its contract. Tea Party Miami:STOP THE LAND GRAB PROTEST - WEST PALM BEACH - BE THERE APRIL 2Radical Environmentalists want the State to divert $500 M from Everglades Restoration programs to buy 46,000 acres that will have little or no impact on Everglades clean-up. A shady Liberal New York Hedge Fund billionaire with a murky past as a polluter is paying top aides to Obama and Charlie Cris to wage a multimillion dollar TV campaign of disinformation to fool Florida Voters. Court mandated water tests show...<a class="see_more_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?app_id=&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F6Dg4oLkBbYq.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df367aca318%26domain%3Dwww.alternet.org%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.alternet.org%252Ff61787fac%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=500&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D646218975506186%26id%3D643576382437112&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&width=500#" data-ft="{" tn="tn" e="e" role="button" style="color: rgb(59, 89, 152); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">See More</a><a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar">...</a><a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar">http://www.alternet.org/environment/tea-party-protesters-opposed-florida-land-deal-were-mostly-actors-hired-big-sugar</a>art'l : More than 50 actors from a Broward County acting group were paid $75 each to protest outside the South Florida Water Management District on Thursday about a controversial land deal they knew little about.The protest was called by the <a href="http://www.teaparty-miami.org/" target="blank" style="color: rgb(88, 88, 88); text-decoration-line: none;">Tea Party of Miami</a> and Florida Citizens Against Waste, a recently formed group that has no contact information on its website and is not registered to do business in Florida. rentamob  <a href="http://grist.org/news/cool-job-posting-earn-20-pretending-to-hate-wind-energy/">http://grist.org/news/cool-job-posting-earn-20-pretending-to-hate-wind-energy/</a> = <h1 class="print-title" style="margin-bottom: 0.2em;">=</h1><h1 class="print-title" style="margin-bottom: 0.2em;">The Nicotine Network</h1> <div class="dek" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">How Big Tobacco and Republican congressional leaders help each other gain power.</div>By <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/authors/peter-h-stone" rel="author">Peter H. Stone</a> | Tue Apr. 30, 1996 11:00 PM PDT<hr class="print-hr" /><div class="print-content"><div id="node-20338" class="node node-type-html node-type-article-full"><div class="node-inner clear-block"><div class="content clear-block"><div class="field field-type-text field-field-short-body"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd">Just four blocks from the headquarters of RJR Nabisco in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a small company called the Ramhurst Corp., which has been playing an instrumental role in the beleaguered tobacco behemoth's political fortunes. Its key mission: to quash the biggest political and financial challenges the tobacco industry has ever faced--from federal efforts to regulate tobacco at the Food and Drug Administration to state attempts to impose excise taxes and smoking restrictions. Launched in 1993 with the support of RJR, Ramhurst--which coordinates many of its activities closely with RJR--combines "grassroots" lobbying with inside-the-Beltway influence-peddling. "Grassroots" coalitions have become a vital tool for tobacco's survival because of the industry's increasingly negative public image. By forming coalitions with business groups, conservative activist organizations, and other industries, tobacco companies like RJR obtain useful cover and, in effect, go from being a "black hat" to a "white hat" in the political world. </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-article-text"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd">Ramhurst occupies a special niche among grassroots organizers for tobacco, however: Its operatives have also forged ties with some of the most powerful GOP leaders in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and Arizona Rep. John Shadegg, Newt Gingrich's hand-picked choice to succeed him as director of the powerful political action committee GOPAC. Most significantly, a key Ramhurst operative has been tapped to head House Majority Whip Tom DeLay's leadership PAC, considered by many the pre-eminent fundraising vehicle in the GOP, after Newt Gingrich's money machine.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><hr class="print-hr" /><div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/05/nicotine-network">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/05/nicotine-network</a></div> =
NW coal fronts/PR firms

 <h1 class="entry-title">Look Who’s Taking Coal Money</h1><div class="kicker">The face of the coal industry in the Northwest.</div><div class="entry-meta"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/eric-de-place/" title="Posts by Eric de Place">Eric de Place</a> and <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/author/nickabraham/" title="Posts by Nick Abraham">Nick Abraham</a> on December 13, 2012 at 1:00 am</div><div class="series-label">This post is part of the research project: <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/projects/northwest-coal-exports">Northwest Coal Exports</a></div>This is great: the redoubtable Joel Connelly, over at the <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/">Seattle P-I</a>, is on the case. Take a look at his story: <a title="Permalink to Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work”: study" href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/12/13/seattle-pr-firms-are-doing-coals-dirty-work-study/" rel="bookmark">Seattle PR firms are doing “coal’s dirty work.”</a>If ever an industry needed good PR, <a href="http://grist.org/coal/2011-09-30-coal-is-enemy-of-human-race-mainstream-economics-edition/">it’s coal</a>.The industry can’t hope to promote its own coal export schemes in the Northwest so instead it buys support from local consulting and PR firms willing to do coal’s dirty work. By taking money from Big Coal, these firms—many of which have carefully groomed reputations for sustainability and public-interest work—have themselves become a part of the coal industry.Most of these firms might rather not have the public know about the work they do, with the blinds pulled down, on behalf of out-of-state coal giants. After all, their livelihoods depend on appealing to green-minded governments, nonprofits, and businesses in the Northwest. So as an exercise in letting in the sunlight—and as a sort of caveat emptor for clients—here is a look at the Northwest’s homegrown coal industry.EdelmanThe <a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm">world’s largest</a> independent PR firm,<a href="http://www.edelman.com/"> Edelman</a> operates with a dizzying hypocrisy that is on bold display in its <a href="http://www.edelman.com/office/seattle/">Seattle office</a>. Although CEO Richard Edelman <a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/editorial/1122edelman-deadly-spin-distorts-pr-field.html">says publicly</a>: “I do not subscribe to the use of front groups to cover up the true intent of a client,” the firm is in fact <a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all">the shadowy force behind</a> the newly constituted front group <a href="http://createnwjobs.com/">Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports</a> (ANJE). The <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/26/astroturf-group-media-blitz-for-coal-exports/">Seattlepi.com calls ANJE an “astroturf” group</a> for its work supporting the proposal to ship 48 million tons of coal each year from Cherry Point.<div class="post-middle-widgets"><div class="widget-holder"><div class="textwidget">Do you find this article interesting? <a href="https://donationpay.org/sightline/?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_campaign=MiddleBlog26377">Please consider making a gift to support our work.</a></div></div></div>Edelman has a <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-09/wal-marts-jim-and-laura-the-real-storybusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice">well-documented</a> <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/20/news/companies/walmart_blogs/index.htm">history</a> of astroturf activities and although its name is mentioned nowhere on ANJE’s glossy website, multiple news agencies (<a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/07/pro-coal-export-business-alliance.html?page=all">here</a> and <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/11/12/coal-ports/111355/coal-ports-hearings-environmental-scoping/?page=2">here</a>) report that the firm manages the group. In fact, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lauri-hennessey/6/321/1b">Edelman vice-president Lauri Hennessey</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKyWygZicqY">identifies herself</a> in public—and is routinely cited in the media—as a spokesperson for ANJE (<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/03/fight-intensifies-over-whether-northwest-should-become-us-coal-export-hub/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.inlander.com/spokane/blog-7192-day-laborers-being-used-as-pro-coal-placeholders-for-todays-public-hearing.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/04/shipping-of-coal-topic-of-hearing">here</a>, and <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20121119/washington-state-coal-export-terminals-northwest-governor-jay-inslee-clean-energy-economy-oregon-california-epa">here</a>). (Hennessey also runs her own PR firm—<a href="http://www.hennesseypr.com/section_about/about_intro.htm">Hennessey Communications</a>—where she touts her environmental values.)Berk Consulting
Seattle-based <a href="http://berkconsulting.com/">Berk Consulting</a> takes coal money. The firm produced a <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Economic_Study-Executive_Summary.pdf">economic analysis</a> for Millennium Bulk Terminals, the company that wants to ship 44 million tons of coal annually from a site on the Columbia River. Opponents have <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/07/12/coal-ports/109550/coal-ports-trains-seattle-edmonds-bellingham/?page=1">disputed</a> the Berk study, arguing that it fails to consider <a href="http://www.heavytrafficahead.org/pdf/Heavy-Traffic-Ahead-web.pdf">traffic impacts</a> and <a href="http://powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/WORC-Exporting-PRB-Coal-Risks-and-CostsFINALFINAL9-111.pdf">economic costs</a>, both public and private.Nyhus CommunicationsWith offices in Seattle and Washington, DC, <a href="http://www.nyhus.com/">Nyhus Communications</a> features a website with rotating photos of renewable energy projects and green hero Van Jones. Yet Nyhus also carries water for coal interests, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/arch-coal-elects-deck-slone-as-svp/article_89e596ce-8d47-11e1-a22b-0019bb30f31a.html">working with Arch Coal</a> (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/oira_0710/0710_12062011-1.pdf">p73</a>) to promote coal shipments from Longview. Nyhus is also <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/move-forward-washington-coalition-created-to-promote-international-trade-in-washington-162219395.html">actively involved</a> with <a href="http://www.moveforwardwashington.org/">Move Forward Washington</a>, a newly minted group that emphasizes coal among other exports. (One founding member of the group is <a href="http://millenniumbulk.com/">Millennium Bulk Terminals</a>.)Gallatin Public Affairs<a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/">Gallatin</a> is a natural fit with the coal industry. The firm has a history of pushing through controversial projects, including Monsanto’s <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/lobbying/firm/gallatin-public-affairs/03A9E5E6-1408-4E9C-A6FF-282A898BC6A5">Blackfoot Bridge phosphate mine</a> and Formation Metals’ <a href="http://www.formationmetals.com/s/News.asp?ReportID=122037">Cobalt Mine proposal</a>. So it’s no surprise that Gallatin has gone to work for Millenium Bulk Terminals’ coal project in Longview, Washington.The most troubling dimension to Gallatin’s role may be partner <a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">Bruce Grynie</a><a href="http://www.gallatinpublicaffairs.com/bruce-gryniewski/">wiski</a>. He’s the former head of Washington Conservation Voters and a current board member of the <a href="http://mtsgreenway.org/">Mountains to Sound Greenway</a>. He says that he joined Gallatin to “win support for even the most controversial projects.”He’s trying to do just that. Gryniewiski is the prime mover in Gallatin’s efforts to put 44 million tons of coal on the Columbia River each year to be burned at power plants in Asia. He is<a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false"> listed as lobbyist</a> and also as a <a href="http://tdn.com/news/local/millenium-to-restart-coal-terminal-permit-process/article_abb5534c-4f5f-11e0-b8ef-001cc4c03286.html">spokesperson</a> for the coal company.ECONorthwestA Portland-based economic consulting firm, <a href="http://www.econw.com/">ECONorthwest</a> has a long history of work supporting conservation, so many were surprised to learn the firm took money from Ambre Energy to produce an <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/economy">economic impact analysis</a>. ECONorthwest’s analysis has become a key piece of support for the <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/">Morrow Pacific Project</a>, a complicated scheme to move as much as 8 million tons of coal annually in barges on the Columbia River for onward shipment to coal plants in Asia.Gard CommunicationsHeadquartered in Portland, <a href="http://www.gardcommunications.com/">Gard Communications</a> is <a href="http://morrowpacific.com/uncategorized/press-release-12612">the public face</a> for Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific Project. The firm produces a range of publicity materials and president Brian Gard himself appears to be acting as Ambre’s press flak for the project. Gard has the distinction of being the only Northwest consulting firm so far to attract attention for its coal work when several Portland groups <a href="http://www.portlandoccupier.org/2012/09/19/speaking-power-to-truth-brian-gard-and-ambre-energy/">protested</a> it.Strategies 360Headquartered in Seattle, the <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/">Strategies 360</a> consulting group has done some worthy environmental work in the past, even sponsoring <a href="http://www.ecotrust.org/">Ecotrust</a>‘s <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/blog/uncategorized/ecotrust-honors-native-american-leaders-at-indigenous-leadership-awards-dinner/">annual leadership award in 2011</a>. Less well known is the firm’s work in the coal industry. <a href="http://www.strategies360.com/steuerwalt.html">Matt Steuerwalt</a>, former climate and energy adviser to Gov. Gregoire, was the lead <a href="http://orion.pdc.wa.gov/ReportServer?%2FLobbyist+Reports%2FLobbying+Firms+and+Agents&rs:Command=Render&rs:Format=HTML4.0&rc:LinkTarget=top&rc:Javascript=false&rc:Toolbar=false">lobbyist</a> for RailAmerica’s plan to ship 5 million tons of coal from Gray’s Harbor to Asian power plants. After months of <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/port-officials-wondering-about-railamerica%E2%80%99s-coal-intent.html">delay and confusion</a>, <a href="http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/railamerica-drops-pursuit-coal-terminal-grays-harbor.html">the plan collapsed</a>.Drawing a line in the sky.Climate activist Bill McKibben makes <a href="http://math.350.org/">a forceful case for divestment</a>—removing fossil fuel companies from big institutional portfolios, helping to starve them of the cash they require to continue damaging the global climate.Yet divestment need not be all about multinational fossil fuel corporations. It could take the form of withholding support from the consultants and publicists who act as the Northwest front for coal exports. What if Portland State University stopped working with Gard Communications? What if Forterra backed away from Nyhus? What if the Seattle Parks Department severed ties with Berk, and King County fired ECONorthwest?Imagine a Northwest where local governments, nonprofits, and farsighted corporations drew a sort of line in the sky, refusing to do business with the coal industry—including its local agents. Losing even a client or two might be enough to induce more local firms to refuse coal money. Denied Northwest connections and credible local advocates, the <a title="Coal Exports Are Bigger Threat Than Tar Sands Pipeline" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2011/11/16/coal-exports-are-bigger-threat-than-tar-sands-pipeline/">hugely destructive export plans</a> would have more difficulty gaining traction in a region that has long prided itself on its growing clean-energy economy. Perhaps this form of divestment could speed the day when all of Cascadia says “no” to a dirty, climate-wrecking fuel whose highest and best use is to hold up the ground in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

  TPMmuckracker is also <a href="http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/economic_freedom_fund/">tracking</a> this group. http://www.patriotproject.com/ oppose restrictions on smoking in public places, through a front group called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Smokers_Alliance" title="National Smokers Alliance">National Smokers Alliance</a>, which was created by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller" title="Burson-Marsteller">Burson-Marsteller</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bonner%26_Associates">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bonner%26_Associates</a> tea party Tea Party Express is the name for a public relations blitz in 2009 via a cross-country caravan of buses and cars making 35 stops for rallies featured on conservative media. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Patriots" title="Tea Party Patriots">Tea Party Patriots</a> (TPP) is a conservative group initially organized by Freedomworks, which was responsible for organizing the anti-healthcare reform town hall mobs that occurred during the congressional recess period in August, 2009.This is one tour among several recent, simultaneous, or future scheduled tours. There are several astroturf organizations sending buses around in their own names. See also <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity" title="Americans For Prosperity" class="mw-redirect">Americans For Prosperity</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hot_Air_Balloon_Tour&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hot Air Balloon Tour (page does not exist)">Hot Air Balloon Tour</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a>; <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity" title="Americans For Prosperity" class="mw-redirect">Americans For Prosperity</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patients_First" title="Patients First">Patients First</a> Bus Tour<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>; and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Alliance" title="American Energy Alliance">American Energy Alliance</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Express&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Energy Express (page does not exist)">American Energy Express</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea_Party_Express#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html</a> <cite>www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04...</cite> <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpolitics%2Farchive%2F2009%2F04%2Fthe-tea-party-movement-whos-in-charge%2F13041%2F&ei=5zlUTNONLo-ksQPzjrHaAg&usg=AFQjCNFHdd9bEb1-ZaYMSIRhPuFBNHq6Rw">http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpolitics%2Farchive%2F2009%2F04%2Fthe-tea-party-movement-whos-in-charge%2F13041%2F&ei=5zlUTNONLo-ksQPzjrHaAg&usg=AFQjCNFHdd9bEb1-ZaYMSIRhPuFBNHq6Rw</a> --- <a href="http://www.campusprogress.org/know5things/3909/astroturf-tea-parties">http://www.campusprogress.org/know5things/3909/astroturf-tea-parties</a> Know Five Things 1. The tea parties are organized by two large, well-funded, lobbyist-run think tanks.[<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/">Think Progress</a>]<ul><li>Americans for Prosperity: This group, run by Ralph Reed’s former lobbying partner Tim Phillips, is handling the PR and planning the events in the following states: New Jersey, Arizona, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas</li></ul><ul><li>Freedom Works: This group is run by former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey. They have a) set up Web sites to promote the events that are supposed to look as if they’ve been set up by amateurs; b) written how-to guides and talking points for the events; c) coordinated conference calls among protesters and activists to give them “sign ideas, sample press releases, and a map of events around the country.”</li></ul>2. Free Publicity and Hype on Fox News<ul><li>Media Matters has documented the aggressive promotion of the anti-tax protests on Fox News: “Fox News has in dozens of instances provided attendance and organizing information for future protests, such as protest dates, locations and website URLs. Fox News websites have also posted information and publicity material for protests. Fox News hosts have repeatedly encouraged viewers to join them at several April 15 protests that they are attending and covering.” [<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904080025?f=h_top">Media Matters</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>Promising “fair and balanced” coverage, hosts such as Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto, and Sean Hannity are all planning to broadcast live from the events. Fox News commentator Neil Cavuto defends the network’s coverage, saying Fox News covered the Million Man March, so it should be able to cover the tea parties. News Hounds, however, points out that the Million Man March took place on Oct. 16, 1995, while Fox News wasn’t created until Oct. 7, 1996. [<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/cavuto-million-man/">Think Progress</a>] [<a target="blank" href="http://www.newshounds.us/2009/04/12/neil_cavuto_claims_fox_news_coverage_for_tea_parties_same_as_for_million_man_march_but_fnc_did_not_exist_at_time_of_million_man_march.php">News Hounds</a>]</li></ul>3. Heavy Involvement From GOP Leaders<ul><li>To stress the grassroots nature of the anti-tax protests, Fox News has stressed the event has no partisan agenda.</li><li>The Hill reports that the NRCC is using the event to raise money. The group sent an e-mail to supporters with a link to show them any local tea parties, then asked, “You cannot afford to allow the Democrats to continue their fiscally insanity. Please consider contributing $15, $25, $50 or more as we fight for you.” [<a target="blank" href="http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/04/14/nrcc-urges-supporters-to-join-tea-parties/#more-15531">The Hill</a>]</li><li>An article on their Web site claimed “only two members of Congress — both Republicans — who have committed to attending the demonstrations on the day income taxes are due.” [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/tax-day-tea-party-protests-garner-support-repulican-lawmakers/">Fox News</a>]</li><li>On Fox’s show America’s Newsroom, host Megyn Kelly repeated the claim that “only two members of Congress have agreed to join in, in these events, one of them is South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.” [<a target="blank" href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/kelly-fox-tea-party/">Think Progress</a>]</li><li>Progressive blogs quickly found at least 12 GOP lawmakers involved in the protests.</li><li>Fox News then “corrected” its story, saying, “Editor’s Note: Following this FOXNews.com report, the Republican Study Committee surveyed 110 members and found 38 lawmakers who say they will participate in tea party activities on tax day.” [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/tax-day-tea-party-protests-garner-support-repulican-lawmakers/">Fox News</a>]</li><li>
</li></ul>4. What Do The Protesters Want?<ul><li>Anti-TARP bailout. According to the Web site, the biggest complaint is about the $700 billion TARP bailout of the banks (which happened more than 6 months ago at the behest of George W. Bush.)</li><li>Anti-Obama. From Paul Krugman: “Thus, President Obama is being called a ’socialist’ who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration. Bizarre.”</li><li>Anti-Stimulus. Another complaint is against the package designed to create 3.5 million jobs in the U.S.</li><li>
</li><li>Pro-Tax Cuts. Following a link from the Tea Party web site takes you to a “Tool Kit For Tea Parties,” on a site hosted by Newt Gingrich’s group “American Solutions.” Their solutions include: Tax cuts. Getting rid of the Capital Gains tax. Killing the Employee Free Choice Act. More drilling. Getting rid of Sarbanes-Oxley, the 2002 law created in the wake of the Enron scandals to provide oversight of large public corporations. [<a target="blank" href="http://www.americansolutions.com/directupload/pdf/12SolutionsPrintoutFinal.pdf">American Solutions</a>]</li></ul>5. Polls show “regular people” aren’t as interested in the protests.<ul><li>A Fox News poll released on April 2 found only 36 percent of Americans said they would “be willing to join” a “tea party” protest. [<a target="blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/040209_FNCPoll.pdf">Fox News</a>]</li><li>
</li></ul>Also:
Think Progress compiled a list of involved lawmakers and their venues. Also, “the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported yesterday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will be appearing at tea party protests as well. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) have also been urging their constituents to attend tea party protests while Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is sponsoring a bill in Congress to honor the protests.” [http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/13/kelly-fox-tea-party/]<ul><li>Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Salt Lake City.</li><li>Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and a representative from Rep. Sam Graves’ (R-MO) office, Overland Park</li><li>Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), Shreveport</li><li>Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), Jacksonville</li><li>Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), Wauseon</li><li>Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Phoenix</li><li>Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), Charlotte</li><li>Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), Brevard</li><li>Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Longview</li><li>Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), Columbia.</li></ul>----- flacks <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell</a> Woodward & McDowell is a political <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Public relations">public relations</a> firm that works on behalf of the nation's top corporations to help them do "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grassroots" title="Grassroots">grassroots</a>" organizing and push through ballot measures. Clients include the California <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chamber_of_Commerce" class="mw-redirect" title="Chamber of Commerce">Chamber of Commerce</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ExxonMobil" class="mw-redirect" title="ExxonMobil">ExxonMobil</a>, Dow Chemical, Monsanto, ConocoPhillips, the Western States Petroleum Association. It promotes itself as a "ballot measure and issue advocacy" firm.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Woodward%26_McDowell#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>Woodward & McDowell has assisted the tobacco industry in defeating measures designed to safeguard public health. = ANTI-GREEN <div id="content-header"><h1 class="title">Wingnuts in Sheep's Clothing</h1></div><div id="content-area" class="clear-block"><div id="node-15137" class="node node-type-article node-type-article-full"><div class="node-inner clear-block"><div class="content clear-block"><div id="node-header" class="clear-block"><div id="node-header-data" class="node-header-data-primary">Meet the kooks and corporations behind the astroturf group called ECO.— By <a href="http://motherjones.com/authors/keith-hammond">Keith Hammond</a> <div class="comment-bar nonteaser-comment-bar"><div id="node-body-top" class="clear-block"><div id="dateline">Thu Dec. 4, 1997 12:00 AM PST</div>It's not easy being green -- the brown opposition is well-funded and sneaky, with <a href="http://motherjones.com/news/feature/1997/11/silverstein.html">fake populist tactics</a> that make it hard to spot the wolf in sheep's clothing. To learn more about the astroturf groups who are lobbying against the Kyoto global warming treaty, we contacted the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research (CLEAR). A project of the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., CLEAR ferrets out anti-environmental groups and their funders: the mining, logging, petrochemical, and land-developing industries who profit from pollution and wilderness destruction. Starting with Henry Lamb's perversely named Environmental Conservation Organization, we trace here the interlocking directorates -- and corporate sponsors -- of some of the extremist groups who'll give up their carbon-spewing smokestack when you pry it out of their cold, dead hands:</div><div id="node-body-break"><div id="node-body-bottom"><img src="/74fb1372-4489-5158-82a7-4925784457be.gif"/>CHART COMPILED BY DAN BARRY, CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH (CLEAR)Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) The brainchild of property-rights firebrand Henry Lamb, ECO is an anti-environmental umbrella outfit counting <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/pub/static/CLEAR/ECORG.nhtml">more than 300</a> Wise Use groups as members, with a phone and fax network and a monthly newsletter called Eco-logic, which promotes Wise Use efforts to stop the global warming treaty, and Lamb's conspiracy theories of a United Nations New World Order. Funded by: Allnet Telecommunications, Land Improvement Contractors of America, American Farm Bureau Federation.Henry Lamb A former executive with the Land Improvement Contractors of America, Lamb co-founded Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) in 1990 as a front group for land developers to fight Clean Water Act protections for wetlands, then turned it into a network for Wise Use groups nationwide. He recently co-founded Sovereignty International Inc., an anti-United Nations property-rights group. Prominent in the anti-environmental and property-rights movements, Lamb publishes newsletters and gives radio interviews attacking the U.N.'s Man and the Biosphere Program, World Heritage Treaty, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Convention on Climate Change.
Staff Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Executive Vice President
Board Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Directors
National Wilderness Institute, National Advisory Board
Sovereignty International, Chairman of the Board
 Steve Symms The former U.S. senator from Idaho, elected in the 1980 "Reagan Revolution," was the voice of the anti-environmental movement on Capitol Hill and the champion of various failed "takings" bills. His signal achievement was a bill that built new off-road vehicle (ORV) trails in the national forests. Retired in 1992, today he sits on the boards of a half-dozen of the most arch-conservative, anti-environmental groups in the country. Symms' specialty is defending individual property rights at any cost.
Staff Member of:
Freedom Alliance, President
Board Member of:
Defenders of Property Rights, National Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
National Wilderness Institute, National Advisory Board
Freedom Alliance, Board
American Conservative Union, Board of Directors
American Policy Center, Chair of the Board
 Nancie Marzulla A Justice Department attorney in the Reagan administration and a veteran of the Wise Use litigators the Mountain States Legal Foundation, Nancie Marzulla co-founded the Defenders of Property Rights (DPR) in 1991 with her husband Roger, who served as assistant attorney general under Ed Meese.
Staff Member of:
Defenders of Property Rights, President and Chief Legal Counsel
Board Member of:
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
American Land Foundation, Property Rights Task Force Member
 Fred Singer A former University of Virginia professor and former chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dr. S. Fred Singer is one of a half-dozen preeminent doubters of ozone depletion and global warming science. Singer claims science skeptics like him are being silenced by a conspiracy of feds, enviros, and liberal journalists. Today he heads the Science and Environmental Policy Project, advises several corporate-funded science mills, and rails against global warming science. For this he's amply rewarded: In 1994 Nightline revealed that Singer has accepted consulting fees from Exxon, Shell, Arco, Unocal, and Sun Oil.
Staff Member of:
Science and Environmental Policy Project, Director
Board Member of:
American Council on Science and Health, Board of Scientific and Policy Advisors
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, Scientist Advisor
Cato Institute, Editorial Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
National Policy Forum, Member of Environment Committee
Science and Environmental Policy Project, Board of Directors
 Hugh Ellsaesser A meteorologist and guest scientist at California's Lawrence Livermore nuclear laboratory, Dr. Hugh Ellsaesser is another widely quoted global warming skeptic. He doesn't deny that CO2 buildup causes global warming -- he argues that we should just sit back and enjoy it. He's also a scientific advisor to the Lyndon LaRouche group 21st Century Science Associates, which publishes an anti-environmental magazine promoting LaRouche's wacky <a href="http://www.publiceye.org/pra/larouche/nclc3.html">Neo-Nazi</a> cult.
Board Member of:
21st Century Science Associates, Scientific Advisory Board
Consumer Alert, Advisory Board
Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), Board of Advisors
George C. Marshall Institute, Science Advisory Board
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, Advisor
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Scientific Advisor
 <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Soveregn.htm">Sovereignty International Inc.</a>
Property-rights group Sovereignty International Inc. (SII) is a leading promoter of United Nations paranoia, claiming that environmental regulations are part of a plot to establish a "one world government" -- a theme echoed by militia groups nationwide. SII was founded by ECO's Henry Lamb; the American Sheep Industry Association's Tom McDonnell, who has collaborated with LaRouche propagandist Rogelio Maduro to attack U.N. biodiversity programs; and Dr. Michael Coffman, who did a speaking tour this summer sponsored by the John Birch Society. His topic: The U.N.-corporate-environmentalist conspiracy to seize control of private land in America, hand it over to wild animals, and herd all the humans into crowded communities. SII's <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Soveregn.htm">Web site</a> consists of a single malfunctioning page on the server of Liberty Matters, a property-rights project. Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.nwi.org/">National Wilderness Institute</a>
Dedicated to wilderness destruction, NWI boasts a board of heavy hitters including Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Reps. Dick Armey (R-Texas) and Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), and former Bureau of Land Management honcho Don Hodel, architect of the famed Hodel policy which allowed county governments to bulldoze new roads across federal wilderness lands. Today NWI attacks the Endangered Species Act and the U.N. Biodiversity Convention, defends the petroleum economy, and publishes <a href="http://www.nwi.org/resource.html">NWI Resource</a> magazine, with articles like "The Magic of Property Rights" and "Ecosystems: Where Do They End?" Funded by: Hardwood Manufacturers Association.<a href="http://www.conservative.org/">American Conservative Union</a>
With board members like Ralph Reed, Becky Norton Dunlop, Tom Clancy, Jesse Helms, and Newt mentor Grover Norquist, you pretty much know where the ACU is coming from, but on global warming they've staked out a <a href="http://www.conservative.org/conservative/press/Press103097.html">unique position</a>: "I can just see it now -- some guy in the Pentagon says, 'I'm sorry, Mr. President. If you want to send that extra carrier battle group into the area, we'll have to shut down the electric power grid to California for two weeks to stay under our emission caps.'" Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/">American Policy Center</a>
Chaired by another extreme-right demagogue, Thomas DeWeese, this property-rights propaganda mill makes no bones about it: There is no global warming, there's a global leftist conspiracy to deceive the American people and wreck our economy -- for reasons that remain unclear. To protest the treaty negotiations in Kyoto, APC has called a nationwide "<a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/plate.main/StrikeForliberty/StrikeLtr.html">Strike for Liberty</a>" on Dec. 6; patriotic citizens "can participate simply by wearing red, white and blue arm bands, or driving their cars with the lights on, blowing the horn." Web site bonus: An <a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/plate.main/StrikeForliberty/AlGore.html">amazing screed</a> accusing Al Gore of genocide. APC also publishes EPA Watch, a survey of environmental regulatory activities, and Foreign Policy Focus,an anti-U.N. nativist newsletter. Funded by: Unknown.Freedom Alliance
Founded by Oliver North, the Freedom Alliance passes as a right-wing think-tank and citizens group, but mostly it's the direct-mail fundraising machine that grew out of Ollie North's legal defense mailings in the Iran-contra affair. Its newsletter, The Free American, promotes North's political ambitions and attacks gays and other unholy types. In one issue, Freedom Alliance president and former Senator Steve Symms attacked the Supreme Court for overturning Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2 ballot measure: "Now, because of their perverted lifestyle, a minority of citizens is granted special treatment in soliciting state contracts. Does this make sense?" Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.defendersproprights.org/">Defenders of Property Rights</a>
Founded by Reagan Justice Department lawyers Roger and Nancie Marzulla in 1991, Defenders of Property Rights is part of a national network of right-wing law firms and legal foundations that serve as a pro bono Wise Use legal defense fund. DPR pursues anti-environmental lawsuits through the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, a conservative court whose 16 judges were all appointed by Reagan and Bush; DPR's directors reportedly plan strategy at an annual meeting sponsored by the Heritage Foundation. Funded by: Carthage Foundation, Hardwood Manufacturers Association.American Land Foundation
Founded by property rights leader Dan Byfield, ALF (formerly the Farm Credit Property Rights Foundation) underwrites anti-environmental research and boasts a who's who of the movement on its property rights task force. Last year ALF <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/Press%20release%20Final.html">teamed</a> with two other Wise Use groups to form <a href="http://www.libertymatters.org/">Liberty Matters Inc.</a>, yet another Wise Use networking effort, with a fax news service and a focus on feeding stories to small-town and conservative media about the evils of environmentalism, especially when it bears the taint of the U.N. Today Liberty Matters sponsors two segments -- and chooses the guests -- on the program "Morning View" on Paul Weyrich's conservative NET cable channel. Appearing this Friday: Dr. Michael Coffman of Sovereignty International. Funded by: Unknown<a href="http://www.acsh.org/">American Council on Science and Health</a>
Led by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, this corporate-funded science mill stoutly defends silicone breast implants, DDT, and of course, the polluting technologies that cause global warming. In a <a href="http://www.acsh.org/publications/reports/global.html">new report</a>, ACSH scientists accept global warming as real, but argue that we should just "adapt" to climate change and learn to live with any increase in catastrophic weather and infectious diseases -- for the sake of the "global economic system." Incredibly, one of the authors is an M.D. Funded by: <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/FoxProCGI.acgi%24run_module%3Fdata_code%3DCLEAR%26extra_code%3Dgroup_code%3DORG176%26the_type%3DGroup%26">Scores of major corporations</a> and conservative foundations, including Exxon, Mobil, Ford, and the Olin and Scaife foundations.<a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato Institute</a>
This libertarian think-tank is well-known for defending private property and the unmitigated free market. It's also home to <a href="http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-pm110697.html">Dr. Patrick Michaels</a>, a leading skeptic who argues that global warming models are fatally flawed, and that we should take no action because new technologies will soon replace those that emit greenhouse gases. Funded by: <a href="http://wyl.ewg.org/FoxProCGI.acgi%24run_module%3Fdata_code%3DCLEAR%26extra_code%3Dgroup_code%3DORG396%26the_type%3DGroup%26">Scores</a> of major corporations and conservative foundations, including Amoco, ARCO, Dow Chemical, and the Koch family foundation.<a href="http://www.his.com/_sepp/">Science and Environmental Policy Project</a>
This corporate science mill began in 1990 as an offshoot of the Moonie-funded think-tank Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy. Its goal is to discredit global warming, ozone depletion, and acid rain. Its director, physicist Dr. S. Fred Singer, is a former chief scientist for the Department of Transportation who has received thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" from Exxon, Shell, Arco, Unocal, and <a href="http://motherjones.com/news_wire/sunoco.html">Sunoco</a>. Singer lambastes global warming science in regular <a href="http://www.his.com/_{sepp/glwarm/glwarm.html">editorials</a>&nbsp};in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Times. Funded by: Monsanto, Texaco, Philip Morris, and the Bradley, Forbes, and Smith Richardson foundations.<a href="http://www.junkscience.com/">The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition</a>
TASCC director Steven Milloy, a cheerleader for rolling back environmental regulations in the 104th Congress, calls himself "The Junkman," and his Web site "Junk Science" sounds that familiar refrain: Thousands of scientists are wrong about global warming, and a handful of polluter-funded scientists have it all figured out. Funded by: 3M, Amoco, Chevron, Dow, Exxon, General Motors, Philip Morris and other big corporations.21st Century Science Associates
This Lyndon LaRouche group publishes the anti-environmental magazine 21st Century Science & Technology, which in addition to promoting LaRouche's wacky <a href="http://www.publiceye.org/pra/larouche/nclc3.html">Neo-Nazi</a> cult and global conspiracy theories, is home to associate editor Rogelio Maduro, author of The Holes in the Ozone Scare. That book became Rush Limbaugh's ozone bible. Funded by: Unknown.<a href="http://www.consumeralert.org/index.htm">Consumer Alert</a>
This astroturf group calls global warming science "scare stories" and funds the Web site <a href="http://www.globalwarming.org/index.htm">Globalwarming.org</a>, with a bi-weekly update called "May Cooler Heads Prevail." Consumer Alert's networking project, the <a href="http://www.consumeralert.org/NCC/index.htm">National Consumer Coalition</a>, formed the so-called Cooler Heads Coalition in May, "to dispel the myths of global warming." Cooler Heads is run by a vice president from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a longtime sponsor of the Wise Use movement. Funded by: American Cyanamid, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Chevron, Monsanto, Philip Morris, and other big corporations.<a href="http://www.marshall.org/">George C. Marshall Institute</a>
As David Helvarg <a href="http://motherjones.com/news/feature/1997/11/index.html">reported</a> in last week's MoJo Wire, the George C. Marshall Institute is another conservative think-tank, a long-time "Star Wars" promoter and the first player to attack the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/cc95/cont-95.htm">1995 finding</a> that human activity is probably changing the climate already. Funded by: Scaife and Bradley foundations.Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
A pseudoscience think-tank funded in part by the nuclear industry, CFACT says the real disaster would be the Climate Change Treaty, because "any proposed cuts in greenhouse gases...would have a major, indeed catastrophic, negative impact on people worldwide." CFACT's president David Rothbard defends <a href="http://motherjones.com/news_wire/velsicol.html">organochlorine pesticides</a>, champions the bovine growth hormone BST, and calls environmentalists "green locusts." Funded by: Carthage Foundation, U.S. Council on Energy Awareness.ALSO AMONG THE LEADING OPPONENTS TO THE GLOBAL WARMING TREATY:Coalition for Vehicle Choice
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Frontiers of Freedom Institute
National Center for Public Policy Research
People for the West!
Robert Balling, Jr.
Dr. Patrick Michaels
 
The <a href="http://www.ewg.org/pub/home/clear/clear.html">Environmental Working Group's CLEAR</a> site tracks hundreds of anti-environmental groups and their funders, complete with a searchable database. <a href="http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/">EPA's global warming Web site</a> explains the science of global warming and the international effort to control it. <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/feature/climate.html">Corporate Watch's Kyoto site</a> tracks big-business influence on the treaty negotiations.</div></div></div></div></div><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1998Q2/clear.html">http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1998Q2/clear.html</a>
---- alternetIn addition to Glenn Beck and Americans for Prosperity, a less-noticed player in the health-care drama is Grassfire, another astroturfing outfit, which, <a target="blank" href="http://www.alternet.org/politics/141860/inside_story_on_town_hall_riots:right-wing_shock_troops_do_corporate_america%27s_dirty_work/">as AlterNet reported</a>, organized town-hall disrupters through its <a target="blank" href="http://www.resistnet.com/">ResisNet</a> site. Grassfire is endosed by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, who on September 4, called upon Van Jones to resign, citing Jones' "extremist views".ResistNet is a social-networking hub for the armed patriot movement, as well as racists and paranoids of all stripes. (On the day we visited, we found one video comparing Obama to Hitler, and another featuring a preacher who called him "a half-breed MacDaddy" and called upon "white folks"; to "riot in the streets.") Grassfire is also organizing its members for a <a target="blank" href="http://www.grassfire.org/1112/targets.htm">ground assault on cap-and-trade</a>.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>