Investigating Power
One of the doctors who has called for TV’s Dr. Oz–a prominent proponent of GMO labeling–to be fired from Columbia University is a convicted felon who works for the American Council on Science and Health. An updated review of ACSH’s funding reveals it is funded by a trade group of food corporations (including Monsanto) that heavily opposes GMO labeling.
Hotel industry profits are up, executive salaries have skyrocketed, and a little-known trade association fights to keep workers’ wages low.
ALEC made headlines, following Wisconsin Republicans’ introduction of a nearly verbatim copy of ALEC’s model Right to Work Act.
Edelman, the worlds largest PR company, synonymous with astroturf-style front groups, has announced that it will no longer work for groups that deny climate change.
Even as the Environmental Protection Agency finally attempts to limit carbon dioxide pollution from coal plants, it is meeting resistance at the state level, thanks to a secretive campaign by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The Supreme Court is poised to decide is Harris v. Quinn, “the most important labor law case the court has considered in decades.”
An internal tracking document — obtained from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) by the Center for Media and Democracy under Texas public records law — reveals the scope of ALEC’s anti-environmental efforts in 2014.
Newly-released ALEC documents obtained as part of CMD”s open records litigation provide more evidence that lobbyists and special interests are calling the shots within ALEC, undermining that group’s latest PR spin that it is a “legislator-driven” organization.
Millions of U.S. citizens have voiced their opposition to the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline in recent months, with more than 2 million public comments opposing the project hand delivered to the State Department last week. At the same time, hundreds of state legislators have been lining up in favor of KXL, seemingly just as passionate and as heartfelt as those opposed to the project. But many legislators have been tasked with promoting the project by oil industry lobbyists who provide them with model bills, talking points and draft op-eds.
An internal ALEC document provided to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), shows that a Peabody Energy lobbyist provided ALEC legislators with a presentation on how to get more cash from corporations like Peabody to attend ALEC conferences. Peabody, a long time member of ALEC, is a frequent presenter at ALEC events and sponsor of several items of ALEC “model” legislation in recent years.