If It's Working, Why Not?

Working off the playbook of the Town Hall Blitzers and Teabaggers astroturfing manual from outfits like FreedomWorks, the energy industry is setting up their own efforts to astroturf climate change legislation.

A leaked memo sent by an oil industry group reveals a plan to create astroturf rallies at which industry employees posing as "citizens" will urge Congress to oppose climate change legislation.

The memo -- sent by the American Petroleum Institute and obtained by Greenpeace, which sent it to reporters -- urges oil companies to recruit their employees for events that will "put a human face on the impacts of unsound energy policy," and will urge senators to "avoid the mistakes embodied in the House climate bill."

API tells TPMmuckraker that the campaign is being funded by a coalition of corporate and conservative groups that includes the anti-health-care-reform group 60 Plus, FreedomWorks, and Grover Norquist's Americans For Tax Reform.

The memo, signed by API president Jack Gerard, asks recipients to give API "the name of one central coordinator for your company's involvement in the rallies."

And it warns: "Please treat this information as sensitive ... we don't want critics to know our game plan."

Little late on that, I think. But gee, looky there, FreedomWorks is at it again on defeating Cap and Trade. Not that they'll need too much help I think with the ConservaDems fighting to keep the Senate from even taking up the measure. But it's important to note that there's a massive corporate lobby disguised as "grass roots protesting" that is anything but.

A Washington lobbying group has already been caught sending forged letters, on behalf of a coal industry organization, purporting to come from local minority groups and urging lawmakers to oppose the climate change bill. A congressional inquiry into the matter is ongoing.

But hey, so far these guys have been pretty effective. Why not continue to astroturf everything the President tries to do?

After all, the plan is "break Obama".