What says 'fake grassroots' better than astroturf suits?
The coal lobby, represented by ACCCE, represented by Hawthorne, represented by Bonner and Associates, sent 14 forged letters to congress in June about the climate bill. And then had the audacity to go before congress and say that they didn't oppose the bill.
From Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones:
In testimony before Congress on Thursday, Steve Miller, CEO for American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a major coal industry lobby group, stated under oath that his organization "has never opposed the Waxman-Markey bill."
But ACCCE's previous statements indicate otherwise. On the day that the House passed the legislation, Miller himself issued a press release stating, "ACCCE cannot support this bill, as it is written because the legislation still does not adequately protect consumers and the domestic economy."
In addition, documents released Thursday by a congressional investigation into 13 forged letters sent to Congress by an ACCCE subcontractor show that ACCCE spent nearly $3 million this year on so-called grassroots efforts to persuade vulnerable legislators to vote against the Waxman-Markey bill. (Miller did tell the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming that ACCCE "supports federal carbon legislation that could include a mandatory cap-and-trade.")
Video of that exchange here:
Generating hundreds of phone calls to congress, dozens of letters to congress, targeted by district to 'kill the bill' by using false claims such as 'energy prices doubling' is wrong. Forging letters to congress is wrong. Lying in a congressional hearing is wrong. C'mon coal, its almost like you don't have much that's right to stand on!
This astroturf operation is a corporate lobbying strategy to defraud the public process and benefit the same big coal companies. Yuck.