Busting an Energy Lobby Front Group

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Americans for American Energy," a front group for oil and gas companies, sent around an email incorrectly claiming that Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal supports its agenda. Freudenthal, who previously supported some "public education efforts" of AAE, told the Casper Star-Tribune that the group's recent email was "highly inappropriate" and "contains a description of initiatives which I wholeheartedly disagree with on a number of levels." AAE opposes environmental regulation of extractive industries, and the AAE website attempts to link environmental concerns to terrorism. A petition on its website states, "America is at War! And The U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserve is Under Attack! While Americans fight overseas defending America's access to vital energy supplies, we are under attack here at home. Liberal lawyers and environmental extremists are attacking the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserve, trying to prevent America from producing American energy there."

Main Source: 
Casper Star-Tribune (Wyoming), September 13, 2007
Topics: 
Front Groups
Terrorism
Environment
Lobbying

Comments

Mutternich replied on

Under the "Technologies" heading on its website, AAE goes out of its way to say good things about solar, wind, and geothermal energy and efficient use of energy -- if you only read that, you'd get the impression they were reaching out to liberals and environmentalists.

But in that "America is at War!" piece, they make it seem almost like those "liberal lawyers and environmental extremists" have launched an all-out military assault on the Naval Oil Shale Reserve. Given that, and the war-drums-banging tone of the rest of the site, why even bother with the nice words about wind and solar?

Strange.