What a bunch of immoral POSs:
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 is upfront about its opposition to Vineyard Wind and other renewable energy projects, making no apologies for its advocacy work.
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Even after Democrats in Congress passed the biggest climate law in United States history this summer, the organization is undaunted, and its continued efforts highlight the myriad forces working to keep oil, gas and coal companies in business.
In Arizona, the Texas Public Policy Foundation campaigned to keep open one of the biggest coal-fired power plants in the West. In Colorado, it called for looser restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. And in Texas, the group crafted the first so-called “energy boycott” law to punish financial institutions that want to scale back their investments in fossil fuel projects, legislation adopted by four other states.
At the same time, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has spread misinformation about climate science. With YouTube videos, regular appearances on Fox and Friends, and social media campaigns, the group’s executives have sought to convince lawmakers and the public that a transition away from oil, gas and coal would harm Americans.
They have frequently seized on current events to promote dubious narratives, pinning high gasoline prices on President Biden’s climate policies (economists say that’s not the driver) or claiming the 2021 winter blackout in Texas was the result of unreliable wind energy (it wasn’t).
The T.P.P.F. blamed the Texas blackouts in February 2021 on frozen wind turbines, even though utility officials said the primary cause was the state’s natural gas providers.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times
They travel the nation encouraging state lawmakers to punish companies that try to reduce carbon emissions. And through an initiative called Life
owered, the group makes what it calls “the moral case for fossil fuels,” which holds that American prosperity is rooted in an economy based on oil, gas and coal and that poor communities and developing nations deserve the same opportunities to grow.
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“When you look at their advocacy, it is consistently a false choice between being environmentally responsible and enjoying economic prosperity,” said Jeff Clark, chief executive of Advanced Power Alliance, an Austin-based trade group for renewable energy companies. “They’re against offshore wind, yet they spent decades advocating for offshore oil drilling. They are against subsidies, but only when it applies to renewables. They’re for looser restrictions on fracking and drilling, but greater restrictions for solar and wind. This organization exists to defend fossil fuels from any threat to their market share.”
Mr. Isaac said that the benefits of oil, gas and coal outweigh the risks, and that while emissions may be warming the planet, the changes are modest and humans can adapt.
“Absolutely, man is having an impact, I just disagree with the argument that it’s dangerous,” Mr. Isaac said in an interview.
Mr. Isaac’s remarks run counter to the overwhelming scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is already making weather more extreme, and if not quickly and sharply abated will lead to increasingly catastrophic floods, heat, storms, drought and social unrest.
“Just as the tobacco industry had front groups and the opioid industry had front groups, this is part of the fossil fuel disinformation playbook,” said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at the George Washington School of Public Health who has studied corporate influence campaigns. “The role of these so called policy organizations is not to provide useful information to the public, but to promote the interests of their sponsors, which are often antithetical to public health.”
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Continue reading the main story
Robert Henneke, the foundation’s executive director, disputed the assertion that it was a front for fossil fuel interests. “That characterization is inaccurate,” he said. He also said that most of the policies the foundation promotes have nothing to do with energy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/climate/texas-public-policy-foundation-climate-change.html
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 is upfront about its opposition to Vineyard Wind and other renewable energy projects, making no apologies for its advocacy work.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Even after Democrats in Congress passed the biggest climate law in United States history this summer, the organization is undaunted, and its continued efforts highlight the myriad forces working to keep oil, gas and coal companies in business.
In Arizona, the Texas Public Policy Foundation campaigned to keep open one of the biggest coal-fired power plants in the West. In Colorado, it called for looser restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. And in Texas, the group crafted the first so-called “energy boycott” law to punish financial institutions that want to scale back their investments in fossil fuel projects, legislation adopted by four other states.
At the same time, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has spread misinformation about climate science. With YouTube videos, regular appearances on Fox and Friends, and social media campaigns, the group’s executives have sought to convince lawmakers and the public that a transition away from oil, gas and coal would harm Americans.
They have frequently seized on current events to promote dubious narratives, pinning high gasoline prices on President Biden’s climate policies (economists say that’s not the driver) or claiming the 2021 winter blackout in Texas was the result of unreliable wind energy (it wasn’t).
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The T.P.P.F. blamed the Texas blackouts in February 2021 on frozen wind turbines, even though utility officials said the primary cause was the state’s natural gas providers.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times
They travel the nation encouraging state lawmakers to punish companies that try to reduce carbon emissions. And through an initiative called Life
owered, the group makes what it calls “the moral case for fossil fuels,” which holds that American prosperity is rooted in an economy based on oil, gas and coal and that poor communities and developing nations deserve the same opportunities to grow.Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
“When you look at their advocacy, it is consistently a false choice between being environmentally responsible and enjoying economic prosperity,” said Jeff Clark, chief executive of Advanced Power Alliance, an Austin-based trade group for renewable energy companies. “They’re against offshore wind, yet they spent decades advocating for offshore oil drilling. They are against subsidies, but only when it applies to renewables. They’re for looser restrictions on fracking and drilling, but greater restrictions for solar and wind. This organization exists to defend fossil fuels from any threat to their market share.”
Mr. Isaac said that the benefits of oil, gas and coal outweigh the risks, and that while emissions may be warming the planet, the changes are modest and humans can adapt.
“Absolutely, man is having an impact, I just disagree with the argument that it’s dangerous,” Mr. Isaac said in an interview.
Mr. Isaac’s remarks run counter to the overwhelming scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is already making weather more extreme, and if not quickly and sharply abated will lead to increasingly catastrophic floods, heat, storms, drought and social unrest.
“Just as the tobacco industry had front groups and the opioid industry had front groups, this is part of the fossil fuel disinformation playbook,” said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at the George Washington School of Public Health who has studied corporate influence campaigns. “The role of these so called policy organizations is not to provide useful information to the public, but to promote the interests of their sponsors, which are often antithetical to public health.”
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Robert Henneke, the foundation’s executive director, disputed the assertion that it was a front for fossil fuel interests. “That characterization is inaccurate,” he said. He also said that most of the policies the foundation promotes have nothing to do with energy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/climate/texas-public-policy-foundation-climate-change.html
