Revealed: 5 "Grassroots" Groups Funded by Dirty Energy
Photo via Hot Air Tour
The 'Grassroots' Group: Americans for Prosperity's Hot Air Tour
What We're Supposed to Think:
The 'Americans for Prosperity' are perhaps the closest thing to a true grassroots group on this list--they're the ones behind the tea party demonstrations, organizing the raucous town hall protests of health care reform, and now, the Hot Air Tour. Which, as the name suggests, will feature a publicity stunt in the form of a 70 foot hot air balloon rising over Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska for four days. Boasting the humorous slogan "Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom," this stunt is somehow supposed to reveal that the climate bill is nothing more than an energy tax.
The Real Story:
I'll turn this one over to the DeSmog Blog, which has done its homework on the Americans for Prosperity:
The AFP is the third largest recipient of funding from the Koch Family Foundations, behind the Cato Institute and the George Mason University Foundation. Before 2003, when the AFP was still named the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, it received $18,460,912 in funding. 84% of that funding came from the Koch Family Foundations ($12,906,712) and the Scaife Family Foundations ($2,510,000). Koch Family Foundations is funded by Koch Industries. According to Forbes, Koch Industries is the second largest privately-held company, and the largest privately owned energy company, in the United States. Koch industries has made its money in the oil business, primarily oil refining. Presently, it holds stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, forest products, and chemical technology. Americans for Prosperity is also connected to oil giant ExxonMobil. According to ExxonSecrets, between the years 1998-2001, Citizens for A Sound Economy and Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation received $380,250 from ExxonMobil.So its biggest donor (by far) is also the biggest energy company in the US. Hm. So even though the group seems to use less coercion and resources to generate its 'grassroots' base, there's still a part of the story we aren't being told--and that's that the Americans for Prosperity are working primarily to preserve oil industry interests. And thus, should be called the Americans for the Prosperity of the Oil Industry.
"Grassroots" Movement: Anti-Climate Bill Letters Sent to Congressmen
What We're Supposed to Think:
Or, more accurately in this case, what the congressmen were supposed to think: that concerned constituents and interest groups took the time to write letters to their representatives dissuading them from voting for the climate bill. Letters (supposedly) came from leaders of groups like the AARP and the NAACP voicing harsh criticism of energy reform. Just one little problem.
The Real Story:
They were fakes. Thirteen forged letters have been discovered so far, and it's believed that there are more out there. So where did they come from? The forged letters were sent out by the lobbying group Bonner & Associates, which claimed all the letters were sent by a single disgruntled, temporary employee who's since been fired. Which is about as fishy as it gets--after all, what temporary employee goes to the great lengths of carefully forging a number of different letters on different letterhead and mails them to key congressmen, just days before the vote in question, all on his own accord?
Bonner in turn was hired by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy--the same group that hired the infamous voter fraud group to astroturf a 'grassroots' movement against the climate bill for them. The ACCCE has denied any wrongdoing, and it remains mere speculation whether and how the coal industry group was involved in the forgeries.
Sources: Grist, Wall Street Journal, Climate Progress, Sourcewatch
More on the Climate Bill
Why Passing the Climate Bill is an Ethical Necessity
Historic Climate Bill Passes House of Reps
Climate Bill: Everything You Need to Know
