ALEC - Breaking Wind

This week I read an article in the UK Guardian regarding a meeting that was held this past February in the US. – a group of right wing extremists who are hell bent on destroying the wind energy program in the United Sates.  The information in that article is important to the citizens for a number of reasons – but mostly because it shows the subversive tactics of the right wing.  The Guardian article was written based on documents released by Checks and Balances.

Basically a right wing lie machine put into action to save their fossil fuel buddies and huge campaign contributors.

A snip:

A network of ultra-conservative groups is ramping up an offensive on multiple fronts to turn the American public against wind farms and Barack Obama's energy agenda.

A number of rightwing organisations, including Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, are attacking Obama for his support for solar and wind power. The American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), which also has financial links to the Kochs, has drafted bills to overturn state laws promoting wind energy.

Among its main recommendations, the proposal calls for a national PR campaign aimed at causing "subversion in message of industry so that it effectively because so bad that no one wants to admit in public they are for it."

It suggests setting up "dummy businesses" to buy anti-wind billboards, and creating a "counter-intelligence branch" to track the wind energy industry. It also calls for spending $750,000 to create an organisation with paid staff and tax-exempt status dedicated to building public opposition to state and federal government policies encouraging the wind energy industry.

And there it was the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – defending their good old fossil fuel corporate profit members.

And yes - ALEC does have a stated position on wind energy:

:

“Ironically, [wind farm] proponents often overlook the impact wind turbines have on the environment. Advocates of public policy that subsidizes or mandates the increased use of renewable energy and, in this case, wind energy, seem to have a ‘renewable energy at any cost attitude,’ ” said Todd Wynn, director of the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The only thing I can figure out is that the "at any cost" is a danger to the ALEC corporate profit sector fossil fuel members.

And these two paragraphs from actual ALEC "energy" ""principles" are telling in their focus:

Rely on existing technology: Energy policy should rely on technologies that exist, not on uncertain future technological advancements. Technological advancement will occur, but we cannot predict them ahead of time.  

Access: North America has extremely large reserves of fossil fuels in the form of natural gas, petroleum, coal, oil sands, and oil shale. Access to these resources should be expanded to provide America with low-cost and reliable energy.

And as we are all aware ALEC is meeting in Charlotte this weekend to write the bills that are mentioned above with their fossil fuel buddies and financiers serving on the ALEC Task Forces where the corporate lobbyists oops, representatives  “discuss, debate, and vote on dozens of model bills. It is our defined process that produces final model legislation  …”

And you have this reported about the ALEC meeting in Charlotte this weekend

Among Friday’s agenda items was model legislation to repeal state renewable-energy mandates, according to the advocacy group Common Cause. The mandates require utilities, including Charlotte-based Duke Energy and Progress Energy in Raleigh, to produce a portion of their electricity from the wind, sun or organic wastes.

North Carolina became the first Southeastern state to adopt such a standard in 2007, setting renewable-energy targets that reach 12.5 percent by 2021.

A bill to repeal the North Carolina mandate, introduced last year by a Jacksonville Republican, Rep. George Cleveland, remained stuck in committee. But freshman Republicans in the legislature hope to freeze the standard at current levels.

Besides paying $50,000 to sponsor ALEC’s Charlotte meeting, Duke Energy said it has contributed $66,000 to ALEC since 2009, including $20,000 to sponsor its 2011 spring meeting in Cincinnati.

$136,000 to keep alternative energy from being expanded - hell of a deal for Duke Energy.

Hell of a deal -

What does an ALEC corporate profit membership buy you???? More profit!!!!
More fossil fuels. Becausetheycan  buy legislators and legislation.

And what were ALEC legislators and corporate lobbyist - oops representative doing in Charlotte:

ALEC spokeswoman Kaitlyn Buss said the group invites the news media to cover its annual meeting, but not the spring summit of its eight task forces, where proposed legislation is discussed.

She described the Charlotte gathering, which drew about 600 people, as “an open exchange” pairing legislators with “employers, job creators from across the country” to talk about “the most critical things facing them in their states.”

CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS!

No media coverage at this meeting - no sirree!

This is where they talk about "legislation" - that can't be open to the media!

 

No public input on this legislation - no sirree!!

This is where they talk about "legislation" - that can't be open to the public!

This is special - super duper legislation that is way too  important for the common person or media representative to understand.

 ...  "pairing legislators with “employers, job creators from across the country” - that are paying buckets of money to have these stupid state legislators destroy our country.

But it appears that Wisconsin is ahead of the ALEC curve again and doing the bidding of the Koch brothers as noted in the article below.

Attempt to Roll Back Wind in Wisconsin?

Members of the Wisconsin legislature may vote today – March 6, 2012 – to suspend recently agreed upon rules in the state that streamlined and made more efficient the state’s wind siting requirements. Although the legislators pushing for suspension cite the need for local control over wind rules as their motivation, many of them are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), raising questions over just how grassroots their motivation really is. Pressure for the vote today is reportedly due to State Senator and ALEC member Frank Lasee. Wind supporters are urged to contact the state’s Senators and urge them not to suspend the uniform state siting rules.

You see – the standard operating procedure for ALEC is to get ALEC legislation introduced or passed in one state and then tell the other stupid ALEC members that legislation introduced  in ONE state means it works in all states and evidently Wisconsin was the ALEC poster child for this.

And that's evidently what they are doing in Charlotte - regardless of what happened in Wisconsin.

But then if it hadn't been Wisconsin - it would have been Arizona or Indiana or Michigan - the other major ALEC loving state legislatures.

ALEC = the one size fits all – corporate sponsored bill mill.

The US - The best government ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members can buy.