Big Coal makes deceptive phone calls on climate change legislation
Next month the U.S. Senate is expected to take up the Lieberman-Warner bill on climate change (S. 2191), legislation that would create a federally controlled market for carbon pollution by allowing industries to buy and sell emission allowances.
In the meantime, a lobby group for the coal industry is making phone calls encouraging people to oppose the measure -- but it's being less than forthcoming about who's behind those calls.
Pete MacDowell, an activist with the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, got one of the calls this morning. The woman on the other end identified herself as being from Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, an organization formed in 2000 to build support for coal-based electricity. Last month, ABEC merged with the Center for Energy and Economic Development -- an Alexandria, Va.-based group that represents the interests of coal producers and utility companies -- to form the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
Here's MacDowell's account of the call:
Expect to be hearing more from ACCCE in the coming weeks, as the organization today announced that it will be focusing on the upcoming Lieberman-Warner debate. Besides making phone calls, the group will also run print ads against the measure.
For an analysis of the Lieberman-Warner legislation from the Union of Concerned Scientists, click here. For more information on ABEC, read its SourceWatch.org entry.
In the meantime, a lobby group for the coal industry is making phone calls encouraging people to oppose the measure -- but it's being less than forthcoming about who's behind those calls.
Pete MacDowell, an activist with the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, got one of the calls this morning. The woman on the other end identified herself as being from Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, an organization formed in 2000 to build support for coal-based electricity. Last month, ABEC merged with the Center for Energy and Economic Development -- an Alexandria, Va.-based group that represents the interests of coal producers and utility companies -- to form the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
Here's MacDowell's account of the call:
They wanted to add my name to a fax to Senators Lieberman and Warner asking them leave it up to the states to decide how to respond to climate change rather than drive up our utility rates. When I asked who ABEC was, I was told that they were individuals concerned about utility rates. When I asked if they were an environmental group, the answer was "yes." When I asked whether they were related to the utilities, the answer was "No." When I asked to find out more about them I was directed to their website. When I told the lady that they were the coal lobby, they said that they did believe in "clean coal." When I told the lady that the information she had previously given me was fraudulent, she said she would tell her supervisor.As MacDowell notes, it's fraudulent for ABEC/ACCCE to claim they're not related to the utilities. Even the groups' own www.americaspower.org website acknowledges their relationship to coal-fired electrical utilities (bold emphasis mine):
AmericasPower.org is sponsored by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), which is a partnership of the industries involved in producing electricity from coal.That website also includes a list of ACCCE member organizations -- among them major utility companies including Duke Energy and Progress Energy of North Carolina, Luminant of Texas, and Mirant of Georgia.
Expect to be hearing more from ACCCE in the coming weeks, as the organization today announced that it will be focusing on the upcoming Lieberman-Warner debate. Besides making phone calls, the group will also run print ads against the measure.
For an analysis of the Lieberman-Warner legislation from the Union of Concerned Scientists, click here. For more information on ABEC, read its SourceWatch.org entry.
Labels: climate, coal, global warming, Joe Lieberman, John Warner, lobbyists, NCWARN
3 Comments:
After reading your article, I decided to look into this matter and this is what I have been able to find out. In the instance mentioned in your post, one new staff member – who is no longer working on this project – decided to “wing it” when asked some questions that were off her script. This staff person clearly should have answered “Yes” when asked if ABEC was related to the utility industry.
While ABEC did merge with the Center for Energy and Economic Development to form ACCCE back in April of this year, our grassroots arm still operates under the ABEC name to reduce confusion to our more than 150,000 individual members some of whom have been members since ABEC’s inception in 2000.
We only call only our membership, whom we have been communicating with over many years, about what ABEC is and what we stand for. Our policy is to always be open and upfront about who we are, what we do and what we advocate for. As you pointed out in your post, we go to great lengths to operate as transparently as possible on our website.
I hope this helps to add some clarity to the operations of our organization. I can always be reached for further information at sgates@cleancoalusa.org.
Steve Gates
ACCCE Senior Communications Director
Interesting that you say that you only call your membership, when I just received a phone call from someone identifying herself from ABEC asking me if they could add my name, but she refused to tell me how she got my contact information (I'm on the no call list) and when I asked her a second time who she'd gotten my contact information from, she hung up on me.
i just got a call from Americans for Balanced Choices... they asked if my email address was still aol and could they send me information. I said i would not support the energy companies and she could not send anything and hung up. the phone number 720 204 1286 from Longmont Colorado when called gets a recording "you cant reach this number as dialed or it has been disconnected."
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