api energy citizens

20 August 09

Houston Energy Citizen Event not a Rally - it was a Company Picnic

Tags: api energy citizens, energy citizens american petroleum institute, houston rally, texas public citizen

Note: the times, dates and locations of all the upcoming American Petroleum Institute "Energy Citizen rallies" are at the end of this post.

As regular readers will recall, DeSmogBlog was the first blog to report on an API memo obtained by Greenpeace outlining a series of "energy citizens" rallies that would rely heavily on local oil companies bussing in their employees to create the appearance of a grassroots uprising against the Waxman-Markey clean energy bill.

Since then, I have received a lot of emails from oil company employees who know these fake rallies are wrong. Members of the Texas Public Citizen group attended the rally, and as they rightly report these were more like a company picnic than a spontaneous uprising of citizens.

If you've received an invitation to one of these energy citizen rallies, send me an email: desmogblog@gmail.com or call me at 778-240-6343 and let me know the details so we can continue to send folks out to report on these company picnics.

Here's a list of upcoming astrturf events:

Read more: Houston Energy Citizen Event not a Rally - it was a Company Picnic

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About the climate cover-up

Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.

There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.

Although all public relations professionals are bound by a duty to not knowingly mislead the public, some have executed comprehensive campaigns of misinformation on behalf of industry clients on issues ranging from tobacco and asbestos to seat belts.

Lately, these fringe players have turned their efforts to creating confusion about climate change. This PR campaign could not be accomplished without the compliance of media as well as the assent and participation of leaders in government and business.