Well I guess misrepresenting the views of veterans is one way to celebrate Veterans Day. Just a few months after getting busted sending fraudulent letters claiming to be on behalf of veterans groups, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity sent this email to their supporters yesterday:
With Veterans Day around the corner, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the military personnel who are involved in ensuring our country is protected.
Energy security is one issue that has become increasingly important to our veterans. In fact, national veterans groups Votevets and Operation Free are urging the government to become more energy independent and less reliant on foreign oil.
We can do this by using the abundant domestic fuels we already have. With more than 250 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, the United States has more coal than the Middle East has oil.
We need to start putting our coal to use – and technologies such as hybrid-electric cars and cleaner, more efficient power plants are making it easier for us to do that.
One problem, VoteVets and Operation Free are completely at odds with ACCCE. Richard Smith at Vet Voice explains:
VoteVets and Operation FREE are not, have not and will never advocate the continued use of carbon based fuels. Such an action would be completely counter to the work we do, as so called “clean coal” only pushes us closer to inevitable catastrophic climate change and threatens our national security. For the ACCCE to hijack America’s Veterans who are working to ensure secure, clean American energy alternatives while simultaneously claiming to honor us on Veterans Day is an act of despicable hubris.
ACCCE has no shame whatsoever. Kudos to Vote Vets for the bold statement and rapid response on this.
When he was hauled before Congress last week for sending those forged letters to lawmakers on climate change, astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner pledged to make sure that no similar event ever happened again. As a centerpiece of that effort, Bonner announced that his firm had hired James Thurber, an American University political science professor, to act as an “independent ethics adviser.”
Bonner assured lawmakers that the new adviser “is well-regarded as maintaining the highest ethical standards and independence,” and “will review our policies and work with us to continue to improve our internal quality control system to the highest standards.” All in all, it sounded like a good idea.
But it’s fair to ask how independent Thurber really is.
Today, Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, ran an ad by the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (CCPS), the American University program that Thurber directs.
In an email to Bonner headed “Ready to Rumble,” Hawthorn lists seven key Democratic targets it believed could be pressured to vote against the bill. Hawthorn also named specific interest groups it hoped would write letters opposing the legislation—especially organizations “representing the interests of veterans, senior citizens, minorities, and other groups,” according to the documents. The email requests Bonner to produce five letters from such groups in the district of each targted lawmaker.
“We are disappointed that Chairman Markey’s hearing on this scandal will have to wait, but we applaud his efforts to bring this important story to light. Today’s press reports confirm the close associations between ACCCE and the contractors they hired and the fact that ACCCE knew about the letters forged on their behalf well before Congress was alerted.
“This is another reminder of how far these polluting special interests are willing to go to keep the public in the dark and dependent on their dirty sources of energy. Big Oil, Big Coal and other special interests have already spent more than $100 million trying to defeat clean energy legislation, and in doing so have managed to mar the tradition of true public participation that has made our country great.
“We cannot let polluters get away with their dirty, business-as-usual tactics. Right now the Senate is working on a clean energy jobs bill that will ensure we have less pollution, more jobs and greater security. It will help America take charge and build a clean energy economy that works for everyone.
“But Big Coal and Oil are fighting against this progress, spending tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to drown out the calls for a clean energy economy that are coming from across the country. These polluters are fighting hard for billions in giveaways that would encourage the construction of more dirty coal-fired power plants and to weaken the authority of the Clean Air Act.
“The Senate must fight back against the old polluting industries and pass as strong clean energy jobs bill that will create jobs, boost the economy, switch to renewable sources like wind and solar, make America more secure, and fight global warming.
“We look forward to when the witnesses on both sides of this issue are able to publicly tell their stories.”
Below is the statement of Eben Burnham-Snyder, spokesman for the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming:
“Because all testimony was not received by the Select Committee two business days or more prior to the hearing, the Select Committee has decided to postpone the investigative hearing into fraudulent letters sent to Congress.
“The Majority Staff of the Select Committee forwarded all testimony to the Minority Staff immediately upon receipt. The Select Committee charter calls for all witnesses to file testimony ‘at least two working days in advance of his or her appearance.’ Unfortunately, that timeframe was not met for this hearing.
“Both Chairman Markey and Ranking Member Sensenbrenner take the rules of the Committee and the House seriously, and both agree postponing the hearing is the proper course of action.
“The Select Committee will re-schedule the hearing soon.”
Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming announced today that he will be holding an investigative hearing into the fraudulent letters sent to Congress on clean energy and climate legislation. The Select Committee has now discovered more than a dozen fraudulent letters were sent to several members of Congress as part of an “Astroturf” campaign run by the firm, Bonner & Associates, and contracted by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. This campaign was designed to influence members of Congress on the House-passed Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill.
The hearing will feature some of the central figures in the controversy, including victims of the fraud. The fraudulent letters were staged to appear as if they were sent by groups representing senior citizens, minorities and veterans.
While the hearing will focus on the specific events surrounding this fraud on Congress, the practice of “Astroturf” — corporate-funded activities that create the false appearance of a true grassroots movement — has come to the fore in American political discourse surrounding the debates over health care and energy legislation.
WHAT: Select Committee hearing: “Fraudulent Letters Opposing Clean Energy Legislation.”
WHEN: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 9:30 AM
WHERE: 210 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC and online.
WHO: Witnesses to be announced
Late update.
WITNESSES:
Mr. Jack Bonner, Bonner & Associates
Mr. Steve Miller, President and CEO, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
Ms. Lisa M. Maatz, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, American Association of University Women
Mr. Hilary O. Shelton, Director and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy, NAACP Washington Bureau
The hits keep coming for the embattled United States Chamber of Commerce. On Saturday, I wrote about the Chamber’s overwhelming hypocrisy on climate legislation:
In the last few weeks a diverse group of activist, NGO and labor campaigns have launched to escalate the pressure on the Chamber and its member companies. Here is a brief summary of current efforts:
The Natural Resources Defense Council has been leading the fight. In addition to Pete Altman’s prolific coverage of the story as it develops, they have launched a website — whodoesthechamberrepresent.org — to ask the question: “Who Does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Really Represent?”
Credo Mobile sent an email to their customers on Thursday with the subject line “Earth to Chamber of Commerce: You’re killing me”:
We can’t let this stand. Help us keep up the momentum and join us in asking every CEO serving on the Chamber of Commerce board to quit the Chamber and renounce its radical stance.
The science is clear. And the Chamber is feeling the heat.
Kevin Grandia applied pressure directly to Toyota two weeks ago, calling out the company’s inconsistency in a piece at DeSmogBlog:
If Toyota is genuinely committed to sustainability as they say they are, then they can can take their lead from Nike, Exelon and others and stop supporting the US Chamber and their attack on the Obama administration’s clean energy and climate change reforms. If they don’t leave the US Chamber, then we know where their motivations truly lie.
Move On followed up on Grandia’s pressure on Toyota, writing in an email blast to members on Friday:
If Toyota is as “green” as they claim, why are they supporting a massive effort to kill President Obama’s clean energy plans?
Toyota needs to know consumers won’t stand for this. Can you ask Toyota to quit the Chamber of Commerce? If you’ve owned a Toyota, be sure to mention it when you call.
If major companies like Toyota quit the Chamber, members of Congress will be less likely to listen to the Chamber’s lobbyists.
For years, the Chamber of Commerce has pursued a right-wing agenda out of step with the business interests of many of its members. This year, they’ve launched an all-out lobbying blitz to block all of Obama’s goals—from climate to health care to fixing the economy. If the Chamber has less influence in Washington, our country has a real chance for change.
Call on Toyota to quit the Chamber of Commerce:
Toyota
(212) 223-0303
The Service Employees International Union is also running a campaign against the Chamber, petitioning Senators to “Break Up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce”:
There’s an exodus from the corporate front group over its extreme views. We must use this opportunity to further isolate the U.S. Chamber as an out-of-touch outfit that only serves the interest of a handful of greedy CEOs.
The U.S. Chamber can’t be taken seriously. Your senators need to know this – the corporate front group is in Congress every day, lobbying for its extremist positions. They need to be immediately discredited.
Sign the petition to the Senate now: don’t listen to the extremist U.S. Chamber of Commerce on any issue.
In addition to these newer campaigns, some small businesses have dealt with the U.S. Chamber’s extremism in more creative ways. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce offers an alternative for small businesses that want to be part of a business association but don’t agree with the U.S. Chamber’s anti-consumer policies. They have been fighting against coal plants and for federal climate legislation for years, and they applauded Senator Graham just yesterday for his newfound urgency to reach a bipartisan deal on climate change.
Frank Knapp, President of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber told me on Monday that the U.S. Chamber does not represent the best interests of most small businesses. “I co-founded The S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce because I didn’t believe that small business interests were being represented, specifically in South Carolina, by any other chamber,” Knapp said. “It is clear that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is driven, as most organizations are, by their largest contributors. That traditionally leaves small business interests not being considered.” Business Week asked a similar question last week.
In any large group, a few people do most of the work—usually those who are most ideologically committed or who have a direct stake in a particular outcome. So decisions often end up reflecting not the wishes of the group as a whole but those of its most engaged members. In the case of climate-change legislation like cap-and-trade, many of the companies on the Chamber’s board of directors actually support it. But among the few that publicly oppose it are coal companies, which have a huge stake in stopping any carbon-pricing system. So it’s not surprising that the Chamber’s general approach is closer to Massey Energy’s than to Nike’s.
We assume that lobbies always recognize what’s best for their members. But they don’t, and, in the case of climate change, they may very well be missing what the companies that have resigned in protest have seen: global warming isn’t just bad for the planet; it’s bad for business.
As if the Chamber’s anti-science stance on climate legislation wasn’t enough, they are a key player in other fights against other smart, popular, pro-consumer reforms. Their playbook is exactly the same for every single campaign: spend millions of dollars on misleading television commercials, trying to create fear that reform will destroy the American economy.
Here are a few of the other campaigns they’ve been involved in this year:
The Chamber has lead the fight against the Employee Free Choice Act. They ran millions of dollars worth of misleading ads in home states of key Senators, opposing the legislation. Here is one such ad:
Labor unions responded forcefully — pointing out that the Chamber used the same misleading arguments against the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act 20 years ago — but the damage was done.
On health care they are playing the same disingenuous game they play on climate change. While claiming to support reform, they continue doing everything in their power to protect the status quo. Here is the Chamber’s latest misleading health care ad, thanking Blanche Lincoln for “standing up against a government-run health care plan”:
The Chamber has used the same cynical tactics to oppose financial regulatory reform and the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. President Obama on Friday specifically called out the Chamber for “maintaining the status quo” at the “expense of American consumers” (emphasis mine):
“But all this hasn’t stopped the big financial firms and their lobbyists from mobilizing against change. They’re doing what they always do – descending on Congress and using every bit of influence they have to maintain a status quo that has maximized their profits at the expense of American consumers,” he said. “And since they’re worried they may not be able to kill this agency, they’re trying their hardest to weaken it – by asking for exemptions from this agency’s rules and enforcement; by fighting to keep open every gap and loophole they can find. And they’re very good at this, because that’s how business has been done in Washington for a very long time. In fact, over the last ten years, the Chamber of Commerce alone spent nearly half a billion dollars on lobbying – half a billion dollars.“
So while the bulk of media attention these past few weeks has focused on the Chamber’s stance on climate legislation, there should be no doubt that the group’s efforts are getting in the way of other key elements of the progressive agenda as well.
As Move On notes in their email, the Chamber’s ability to influence members of Congress decreases with each high-profile member company that departs. But the Chamber also relies on annual dues from their nearly 3 million member organizations to finance their misleading political campaigns. Small and large businesses nationwide should take a long hard look at the Chamber’s campaigns and track record, and those who don’t feel represented should end their memberships immediately. Those companies on the Chamber’s board of directors should be subject to additional pressure, since they contribute so heavily to the Chamber’s coffers for the pleasure.
Put another way, companies should only be members of the Chamber of Commerce if they support hyper-conservative anti-regulatory policies across the board, and aren’t afraid to show it. I suspect that hundreds of forward-thinking companies will jump ship in the next several months before their reputations are tarnished by association.
Congressional investigators today said they have turned up a 14th forged letter that was sent to a Congressional office criticizing the House’s climate change bill, this one appearing to come from an American Legion post in Rocky Mount, Va.The letter, sent to the office of Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), asks Perriello to “make sure the Waxman-Markey bill includes provisions to promote American energy independence, while protecting already cash-strapped constituents from increases in electricity prices.” It concludes, “Thank you for listening to concerns of vets in your district.”
But the letter actually appears to have been faked by a Washington lobbying firm working for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a Congressional spokesman said today. The lobbying firm, Bonner and Associates, has conceded that an employee forged letters to three Congressional offices, including Perriello’s, in the run-up to a vote on the climate bill. That employee has been fired, the firm said.
