American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is one-stop shopping for state elected officials interested in perusing the wares of an array of Koch-funded climate opposition organizations including IER, ACCF, Mercatus and other sources.
Koch Industries presumably pays annual membership fees to participate in ALEC’s meetings and policy issue task forces, but such payments are not disclosed to the public. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) notes that Koch Industries gave ALEC $504,000 in 1998–which is not included in the database below–in order to keep ALEC afloat during financial duress. Koch lobbyist Mike Morgan has served on ALEC’s corporate board of directors for over a decade.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is a member of the State Policy Network.
ALEC has successfully peddled corporate-written legislation to numerous states attacking the Kyoto Protocol, undermining climate science education in schools and numerous other anti-environmental legislation. ALEC has close ties to Koch Industries, which helped bail the organization out of financial troubles with a half-million dollar grant.
ALEC publishes its own materials as well, including a “Climate Change Overview for State Legislators” which downplays the science and risks of global warming and exaggerates the costs of addressing it. The Overview was written by Daniel Simmons, who moved from ALEC to become AEA’s Director of State Affairs. Simmons was at the Mercatus Institute before ALEC and is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law.
Charles G. Koch is a recipient of ALEC’s 1994 “Adam Smith Award.”
Greenpeace partnered with the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and several other organizations to publish ALECClimateChangeDenial.org, after ALEC executives attempted to distance themselves from ALEC’s ongoing practice of obstructing climate and clean energy policies.
More information:
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has extensive information on ALEC, published on ALECExposed.org, PRWatch.org, SourceWatch.org, and most recently on ExposedByCMD.org
DeSmogBlog profile: American Legislative Exchange Council
Energy & Policy Institute profile: American Legislative Exchange Council
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS): Global Warming Skeptic Organizations
Little Sis network map: American Legislative Exchange Council
Right Wing Watch profile: American Legislative Exchange Council
Common Cause profile: ALEC
Climate Investigations Center: ALEC Hates the Climate
