A new report from the Energy and Policy Institute reveals the fossil fuel- and utility sector-funded network working to curb the proliferation of renewable energy in the United States.
Co-authored by Gabe Elsner and Matt Kasper and titled, “Attacks on Renewable Energy Policy in 2015,” the 86-page report shines a spotlight on the bevy of coordinated attacks on renewable energy policy happening in in Washington and all fifty states.
Why all 50? Because that’s how this network flexes its muscle and advances corporate interests.
Look no further than the State Policy Networl (SPN), an entity created by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) corporate bill mill, which acts as the central hub around which the rest of the spokes in the think-tank (or “stink tank”) and public relations wheel connect. Both of these groups play a central role in the report.
“Once ALEC model bills are introduced, allied legislators and fossilfuel-funded front groups cite flawed reports to back up their reasoning to either repeal or weaken” laws favorable to advancing renewable energy, the report explains. “[Thereafter], State Policy Network lobbyists…[provide] testimony in favor of the ALEC bills. Finally, fossil fuel-funded members groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, put additional pressure on lawmakers to pass ALEC model bills.”
But ALEC and SPN are just two examples and although they play a pivotal role, the report points to 23 other industry-funded front groups also part of the anti-renewable influence peddling machine. Others include names familiar to DeSmog readers, including the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and Institute for Energy Research, the Heartland Institute and Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) and others.
Not Just Money in Politics, Lobbying
The report has citation after citation raising dire questions about the state, and often lack thereof, of U.S. democracy. But just as important is the premise it presents.
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