The Other Side: Consumer Energy Alliance, Fossil Fuel Front
Candidates for the General Assembly are receiving correspondence from a friendly-sounding entity named the “Consumer Energy Alliance,” which bills itself as “the voice of the energy consumer.” In reality, this Houston-based organization is a political front for the fossil fuel industry.
The CEA correspondence to state legislative candidates asks them to sign and return a so-called “energy consumer protection pledge” which commits them to “’all-of-the-above’ energy and environmental policies.” Candidates beware: The CEA campaigns for offshore drilling, pipeline projects, the creation and expansion of petroleum refineries, easing the permitting process for drilling, and other policies friendly to its funding sources in the petroleum industry and electric power companies. It misleadingly portrays itself as “pro-solar” while attacking solar tax credits, net metering, and third-party solar financing models, all of which are tools for actually encouraging more use of solar energy.
CEA’s founders and contributors include individuals and companies associated with the Keystone XL pipeline, the Canadian tar sands industry, and other climate-unfriendly projects.
Earlier this year, CEA was caught up in a scandal in South Carolina involving bogus emails sent through the group’s website. The emails urged South Carolina legislators to support the Dominion Energy takeover of SCANA Corp., one of that state’s major public utilities. Both utilities have been substantial contributors to CEA. Although CEA denied knowledge of the bogus emails, this wasn’t the first time it has been implicated in similar schemes.
Be on the lookout for other emergences of this oily creature in green clothing.
