Big Oil Funding Anti-ACES Protests

Polluters have already spent more than $100 million dollars trying to kill comprehensive climate and energy legislation. That money has wound up funding everything from misleading TV ads to forged letters to members of Congress.

Now Big Oil is rolling out a new tactic — trying to gin up artificial rallies:

Taking a cue from angry protests against the Obama Administration’s health care restructuring, the oil industry is helping organize anti-climate bill rallies around the nation.

The American Petroleum Institute, along with other organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers opposed to the climate legislation Congress will consider again in the fall, is funding rallies across 20 states over the August recess. […]

We’re not about yelling at your congressman,” says Cathy Landry, API spokeswoman. But, she added, “We are about giving citizens a voice to make changes to the bill so that it doesn’t affect energy prices.”

It’s a sad state of affairs when you have to deny that you support the hooliganism we’ve seen at recent town hall rallies across the country. But with 71 percent of Americans supporting the American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act, clearly Big Oil feels like it has to play dirty.

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Published: August 12, 2009