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An Open Letter: BC Must Act Now to Confront Our Climate Emergency
By The BC Climate Emergency Campaign, published in The Tyee.
200 organizations call for urgent provincial action to confront the climate emergency
We Backed BC’s Climate Plan. Now We See It’s Not Enough
By Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Hannah Askew, Tzeporah Berman, Andrew Gage, and Khelsilem, published in The Tyee.
Minnesota Auto Dealers Association
The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) describes itself as “an advocate for Minnesota’s retail motor vehicle industry and an important source of legal, legislative and industry information.” This trade group asserts itself as a voice for franchised new car and truck dealers in Minnesota, but also has deep organizational ties to conservative politics and long standing opposition to clean air and safety laws in Minnesota. The group regularly supports policymakers who ease pollution restrictions and constrain public investment in clean energy and clean transportation solutions. MADA President Scott Lambert has long ties to conservative politics in Minnesota, even serving as campaign chairman for Jeff Johnson during his 2018 run for governor.
MADA publicly opposed the Clean Cars plan in Minnesota, filing a long public comment full of fossil fuel industry misinformation. The association claims that stricter air quality standards and increased incentives for low and zero emission vehicles would be too divisive among Minnesotans and restrict consumer choice. They assert that Minnesota doesn’t need clean air standards because the state already has clean air, dismissing the reality that pollution control standards are to credit for clean air. MADA has also claimed, counter to public opinion polling, that electric vehicle incentives are pointless because people don’t want electric vehicles.
MADA maintains a quiet campaign to support conservative legislators that support pro-polluter policies. MADA runs a secretive PAC and independent expenditure committee to support conservative candidates called Driving MN. MADA doesn’t publicly disclose the PAC on its website or in any materials beyond the required Campaign Finance Board Disclosures. However, MADA is the sole source of funding for the committee that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years to defeat clean air candidates and elect pro-pollution politicians.
Freedom to Drive Coalition
The Freedom to Drive Coalition was launched in early 2019 to campaign and lobby against Colorado’s proposed clean car standards. After a deal was struck to allow the clean car standards to proceed, the Coalition promised to “keep fighting for Colorado motorists,” an effort that now includes routine criticism of mass transit and alternative transportation options.
The group lists member organizations including oil industry groups like the Colorado Petroleum Association and the American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers (AFPM) and auto groups like the Colorado Independent Automobile Dealers Association (CIADA) and the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).
The coalition is run by a handful of Colorado-based public affairs professionals and lobbyists, including two former leaders of the Colorado state chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), whose national group was founded and funded by the petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers.
Coalition Executive Director Kelly Sloan is a political and public affairs consultant, who has “represented the Freedom to Drive Coalition” in front of the state legislature and who registered to lobby for the coalition on a bill involving greenhouse gas disclosures. Sloan was also the Mesa County rep to the state chapter of AFP.
Sean Paige fields press queries about Freedom to Drive from his personal public affairs firm called Affinity Advocacy. Paige spent three years as Deputy Director and Acting Director of AFP-Colorado.
Independence Institute
The Independence Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Denver, Colorado with a stated mission “to empower individuals and to educate citizens, legislators and opinion makers about public policies that enhance personal and economic freedom.
The organization is the Colorado affiliate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of state-based right wing think tanks and advocacy organizations that has, since its founding, worked with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to coordinate lobbying and political operations across the states.
Independence Institute leaders and staff have repeatedly bashed Colorado’s clean transportation policies, while perpetuating myths about the economics and environmental benefits of electric cars.
Meanwhile, the Institute’s “Coalition of Ratepayers” advocates against tailpipe pollution standards and state policies designed to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. The Coalition of Ratepayers was recently exposed by researchers at the Energy and Policy Institute for its financial and personnel ties to the Energy Policy Network (EPN), a front group for coal mining companies like Peabody Energy.
For more on the Independence Institute, see the full DeSmog profile.
How the Koch Network Influences Minnesota’s Transportation Policy
In 1996, an executive vice president of Koch Industries named Richard Fink laid out a three-tiered integrated strategy for promoting libertarian ideals and free-market principles, and, in doing so, protecting the Kochs’ sprawling petrochemical refining and shipping businesses. Called “The Structure of Social Change,” Fink, who also led the Charles Koch Foundation, described the strategy for investing the Kochs’ fortunes through grants and financial support to organizations and individuals at different stages of policy development and implementation, from universities to think tanks to advocacy groups.
As the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency takes on clean car standards through rulemaking processes, the Koch network’s “structure of social change” is in place to push back against the policy. Below is a network map showing how Koch influence reaches through think tanks and advocacy groups to reach the public and policymakers on the ground in Minnesota.
Center of the American Experiment
The Center of the American Experiment describes itself as “Minnesota’s leading public policy organization” and “more than a think tank.” Though it likes to present itself as a populist, impartial voice, the majority of the center’s programmatic staff are registered lobbyists and the group does not disclose its funding. CAE is active lobbying state government, running advertising and public relations campaigns, and producing reports and papers on state issues.
The Center of the American Experiment is a member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of state-based right wing think tanks and advocacy organizations that has, since its founding, worked with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to coordinate lobbying and political operations across the states.
The Center of the American Experiment is lead by John Hinderaker, who explained in December 2019 that the Upper Midwest Law Center, on whose board he serves, will be taking legal action against the state, in an effort to halt the Clean Cars Minnesota rulemaking process.
Hinderaker first joined CAE as President in January 2016, and his tenure has featured a notable shift from traditional “think tank” activities to direct and indirect lobbying of the state legislature and administrative agencies.
Center of the American Experiment is Less a Think Tank and More a Lobby Shop
Currently, at least six officers and staff members of CAE are registered as lobbyists in the State of Minnesota.
Current CAE President John Hinderaker is a registered lobbyist. Policy Fellow Isaac Orr is a lobbyist, and has reported lobbying on automotive issues, as well as on the subjects of environment, agriculture, and natural resource policy.
In December 2019, the CAE submitted a 27-page comment critiquing the Clean Cars Minnesota rule. The comment relies extensively on cherry-picked data and cost estimates from highly biased sources like the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, which had opposed Colorado’s adoption of clean car standards.
For more on the Center for the American Experiment, see the full DeSmog profile.
Isaac Orr
Isaac Orr is a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, focusing on mining and energy issues. Before he joined CAE, he was a research fellow for energy and environment policy at the Heartland Institute, where he specialized in “hydraulic fracturing, frac sand mining, agricultural, and environmental policy issues.”
As of September 2019, Orr is a registered lobbyist in the State of Minnesota, and has reported lobbying on “energy issues” and “mining.”
Orr is commonly referred to in CAE promotions as an “energy expert”
At CAE, Orr has spoken out against the Clean Cars Minnesota rule, and wrote a sample sign-on letter under the headline: “Help Us Stop Governor Walz From Imposing California’s Car Rules on Minnesota!”
“We need as many people as possible to sign the letter below and submit it to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency via normal U.S. mail, or at the email address provided below,” Orr urged on the CAE website.
A DeSmog review found that roughly 13 percent of the 600 comments received by the agency borrowed the script that Orr provided.
Earlier Career
Orr has written extensively on the benefits of fracking, and has presented at the Heartland Institute’s international conferences on climate change. He wrote a Heartland Institute “Policy Study” titled “Hydraulic Fracturing: A Game-Changer for U.S. Energy and Economies.” He is also the author of a chapter of the Alternative Energy and Shale Gas Encyclopedia, a publication edited by Heartland’s Jay Lehr.
Orr previously worked as an aide in the Wisconsin State Senate where he was a lead-office writer and policy advisor on frac sand mining and agricultural issues.
According to Orr, we shouldn’t worry about climate change, renewable energy subsidies must be eliminated, fracking cleans the air, the U.S. was right to withdraw from the Paris agreement, and the health consequences of fracking are “fabricated.”
Read more about Orr on his DeSmog profile.