{"id":3121,"date":"2023-10-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/campaign-updates\/3121\/alec-50-years-of-attacking-environmental-protection-and-democracy\/"},"modified":"2024-11-22T06:10:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T06:10:10","slug":"alec-50-years-of-attacking-environmental-protection-and-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/alec-50-years-of-attacking-environmental-protection-and-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"ALEC: 50 Years of Attacking Environmental Protection and Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 4, 2023, marks 50 years of attacks on environmental protection and democracy by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). An estimated 98% of ALEC’s funding comes from corporations and well-known conservative foundations established by the Koch, Bradley, Mercer, Searle, and Coors families, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n

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October 4, 2023, marks 50 years of attacks on environmental protection and democracy by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Since its founding in 1973, ALEC has painted itself as a \u201cgood government\u201d group, yet any honest portrait of ALEC would depict it as one of the most secretive and powerful corporate lobbying clearinghouses in the country<\/a>, a \u201cmodel-bill factory\u201d in which ALEC corporate and political members convene in closed-door task forces to draft model templates for legislation introduced and pushed through statehouses across the country.<\/p>\n

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) once called ALEC \u201ccorporate America\u2019s Trojan Horse<\/a>\u201d for the enormous success that it has had in orchestrating a broad spectrum attack on environmental, health, and safety standards, as well as democratic rights and corporate accountability: \u201cMost Americans undoubtedly would be shocked to learn that many of the state laws under which they live and work have actually been written by major U.S. corporations \u2013 not by state legislators they have elected to represent them.\u201d<\/p>\n

An estimated 98%<\/a> of ALEC’s funding comes from corporations and well-known conservative foundations established by the Koch, Bradley, Mercer, Searle, and Coors families, among others. Although many companies have left ALEC over disagreements with its extremist agenda, others remain. Sponsors of ALEC\u2019s 50th Anniversary Gala<\/a> include Altria, UPS, PhrMA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Koch-funded front groups, Americans for Prosperity and Stand Together.<\/p>\n

ALEC\u2019s Attack on Environmental Protection<\/strong><\/p>\n

ALEC\u2019s Environment, Energy and Agriculture<\/a> task force continues to coordinate a barrage of legislative attacks<\/a> on clean air, water, and the climate. A selection of key ALEC model bills compiled by the Center for Media and Democracy reads like a polluters\u2019 bill of rights<\/a>. Over the years, the task force has been stacked with representatives from Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Duke Energy, American Gas Association, Peabody Energy, and other industry-connected groups.<\/p>\n

Here are some other examples of ALEC\u2019s 50-year attack on the environment:<\/p>\n