Monthly Archives: August 2009

We told you the opposition was turning up the heat on the climate bill, but their efforts have reached a new low.

It turns out that the lobbying firm that sent forged letters to House Democrats was working for a group that represents coal and electricity companies. The letters were made to look like they came from local advocacy groups, but they were signed by people who had nothing to do with the local groups.

And what looked like one case now involves a  dozen fraudulent letters sent to at least three members of Congress. Two of those members ended up opposing the clean energy legislation.

Get more details in the Greenwire story on the New York Times Web site, and see one of the forged letters [PDF] on the Greenwire site.

Last week, Environmental Defense Action Fund launched a hard-hitting new campaign targeting members of Congress who opposed the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The ads call them out for their failure to help reduce America’s addiction to imported oil.

Steve Cochran, director of EDAF’s national climate campaign, said this:

This is a sustained campaign to educate the public. The public should know when their elected representatives vote against their interests.

Opponents of this bill have based their campaign on phony numbers and scare tactics. We’re going to beat them with the facts. As this bill moves to the Senate, we are focusing on letting constituents know who is ready to take action to cut imported oil and who just wants to talk about it.

The ads will run through the end of September, and you can see them online:
Mark Souder (R-IN)
Tim Holden (D-PA)
Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)