This spotlight on ALEC type corporate leaders is because they’re the ones who’ve been funding this GOP MAGA saga. They were happy with the defeated ex-president until he kept losing elections for their bought and paid for GOP candidates.
See: February 2016 article: “Umberto Eco on Donald Trump: 14 Ways of Looking at a Fascist– The Leading Republican Presidential Candidate is More Mussolini Than Hitler”.
“When a lawsuit was filed to block the nation’s first major offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, it appeared to be a straightforward clash between those who earn their living from the sea and others who would install turbines and underwater cables that could interfere with the harvesting of squid, fluke and other fish.”
“The fishing companies challenging federal permits for the Vineyard Wind project were from the Bay State as well as Rhode Island and New York, and a video made by the opponents featured a bearded fisherman with a distinct New England accent.”
“But the financial muscle behind the fight originated thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in dusty oil country. The group bankrolling the lawsuit filed last year was the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit organization backed by oil and gas companies and Republican donors.”
“With influence campaigns, legal action and model legislation, the group is promoting fossil fuels and trying to stall the American economy’s transition toward renewable energy. It’s upfront about its opposition to Vineyard Wind and other renewable energy projects.”
As per a Energyandpolicy.org report, “The bills that have come out of ALEC over the past years do much to advance the corporate members’ interests at the expense of both the environment and the public’s health. Examples include bills that would prevent the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide emissions, and a bill giving corporations legal protections against victims of lead poisoning. ALEC’s Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force, which includes representatives from major fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Duke Energy, and Peabody Energy, has approved model bills to repeal renewable energy standards (RES), weaken RES laws by watering them down with non-renewable sources of electricity, and eliminate solar net metering policies.”
As per a Maineinsights.com blog, “On (12/3/2021) the Center for Media and Democracy reported that ALEC voted to support 2 pieces of model legislation attacking fossil fuel divestment titled the “Energy Discrimination Elimination Act” and “Resolution Opposing Securities and Exchange Commission and White House Mandates on Climate-Related Financial Matters.”
“In response, 38 climate organizations sent a letter to the executive directors of the National Association of State Treasurers and the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers.”
“It’s so predictable that an organization like ALEC that’s fueled crises in BIPOC communities with policies and platforms that sustain corporate power and white supremacy, is trying to thwart the people-centered movement for real action on climate change and financial regulation. The 2008 crash showed us that the financial sector will always put profit before people and we’re seeing that again with Wall Street continuing to pump trillions into the fossil fuel industry. This is why we need policymakers and financial regulators to stand up to corrupt groups like ALEC and listen to scientists and frontline communities to shepherd a just transition off of extractive fossil fuels,” said Erika Thi Patterson, Campaign Director of Climate and Environmental Justice for the Action Center on Race and the Economy.”
Related articles:
The Climate Denial Machine: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Blocks Climate … https://www.climaterealityproject.org
ALEC Opposes Efforts to Combat Climate Change … truthout.org/
Leaked calls show ALEC’s secret plan to fight Biden on …grist.org
ALEC Is Driving Laws to Blacklist Companies That Boycott the Oil … https://www.thenation.com
ALEC’s “Critical Energy Theory” Bills Moving in Four States http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022
Climate groups blast ALEC for legislation against fossil fuel ... maineinsights.com
This blog was updated on 12/10/2022.
Gronda Morin 
Gronda, the fossil fuel industry has long been the most subsidized industry in history and it is not even close. This is a major reason why we still need to do more to combat client change and water crisis. Funded politicians are told to slow or stop the progress.
As for the banking industry, they worked hard with Trump and Mick Mulvaney to hobble the very effective Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why? It was working fining banks and credit card companies for aggressive and fraudulent marketing practices. The CFPB protects grandma and others from being cheated by banks. Bank of America was fined $783 million, eg. Wells Fargo, American Express, etc. have been fined as well. And, do you know where the money goes? – over 90% goes back to the screwed over customers. But, the CFPB had to be hobbled.
People need to be aware of the whys and hows more. They get screwed and do not even know it is happening. Keith
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Dear Keith,
You’re right on the money. The little guy keeps getting screwed by big business CEOs who only care about making a profit and pleasing their shareholders. These are the guys who’re very transactional in their business dealings. What human rights! These guys were loving it when the GOP MAGA defeated ex-president was gutting the US State Department and other government oversight institutions.
“As per ALECexposed. org, here’s one more example of how ALEC has harmed banking consumers. “The Consumer Banking Act is listed under ALEC’s Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force and was included in the 1995 ALEC Sourcebook of American State Legislation. ALEC has attempted to distance itself from this piece of legislation after the launch of ALECexposed.org in 2011, but it has done nothing to get it repealed in the states where it previously pushed for it to be made into law.”
“This bill allows for the creation of consumer financial institutions to provide lending for personal, family, or household purposes. It would include non-interest bearing accounts, and no fees except for the return of checks and dishonored checks.”
Again, as per ALECexposed.org, here’s what I think is one of their worst legislative accomplishments.
“Banning Living Wages: ALEC claims to be a conservative group that stands for “limited government.” But the organization has worked to ban local and city governments from setting their own wage laws. ALEC used the model legislation known as the “Living Wage Mandate Preemption Act” to stop cities from deciding how they spend their own taxpayer money by declaring that contracts with government contractors must pay living wages. After Atlanta, Georgia, passed a law saying that it will only use its taxpayer money to hire contractors who pay living wages, the state legislature passed an ALEC bill to ban the city from being able to control its own wage limits.”
Hugs, Gronda
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Gronda, well said. There are two groups that fly beneath the radar that do harm to regular Americans, while the mission of getting more money to rich people and helping them keep it is pushed. One is ALEC. The other is the Sinclair Group, which is a Fox News like operation that owns a significant percentage of local broadcasting stations who are obligated to read word-for-word the same editorial at the end of each news show. Their success is people tend to trust the local stations more than the national ones, so they can sneak under the radar. Keith
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Dear Keith,
You make a really great point. Most Americans are unaware that Sinclair is the 2nd largest television station operator in the US as it owns or operates a total of 193 stations in over 100 markets (covering 40% of American households). Unlike FOX TV News, the public is mostly in the dark about the extreme conservative type of news that they’re viewing.
It’s a lot for the supporters of democracy to have to figure out ways to successfully counter this wide dissemination of far-right conservative ideology.
Hugs, Gronda
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