Kansas coal kings have set up another front group [2] to fight back against an October decision [3] to block construction of two coal-fired electricity generators.
The Alliance for Sound Energy Policy advertises itself as "a statewide, non-partisan organization committed to balancing our growing energy needs with environmental stewardship."
But there are no "environmental stewards" on its list of members [4], and its slick website is registered directly to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation [5], the failed proponent of the canceled power plants.
This is the second time that coal interests, including Sunflower, have launched an Astroturf group [6] to fight the October decision. In early November 2007, a group calling itself "Kansans for Affordable Energy" ran a series of expensive and outrageous ads, suggesting that Kansas legislators were playing into the hands of people like Russian President Vladimir Putin [7], Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [8].
But the Washington Post quickly discovered [9] that the ads had been purchased by Sunflower and by coal giant Peabody Coal.
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