Who’s Paying for Attacks on Climate Science?

Last year saw a lobbying firm working for polluters send forged letters to members of Congress. Do we have an early nominee for 2010’s Polluter Scandal of the Year?

Over at Mother Jones, Kate Sheppard reports a notorious public relations agency who’s worked for evolution deniers in the past is now smearing climate science:

Staffers over at [Creative Response Concepts] have been tweeting furiously on global warming issues for the past few months — attacking not only climate legislation but climate science. […]

So who is CRC working for? It’s not clear if their Twitter efforts are independent or on behalf of a particular client, though their list includes many players seeking to undermine climate science. The firm’s clients have included the National Republican Congressional Committee, National Taxpayers Union, Republican National Committee, Free Enterprise Foundation, American International Automobile Dealers Assoc., Corn Refiners Association, and the creationists at the Discovery Institute. CRC also has close ties with the conservative media machine, using avenues like the Drudge Report and Cybercast News Service to push the Swift Boat story.

I called CRC headquarters to find out more about their climate campaign, but Russell didn’t return calls—and then blocked me from following him on Twitter. Of course, like anyone else I can still access the CRC staffers’ Twitter page. Is there something that CRC wants to hide?

Sounds like CRC doesn’t want anyone to follow the money. Will any reporters force the issue?

Photo via Flickr’s skettalee

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Published: January 26, 2010