“For preemption laws, and the rapid explosion of them in state houses, it’s definitely ALEC that’s more responsible than any other group or organization or company,” explained David Armiak, research director with The Center for Media and Democracy, a nonprofit watchdog group, who investigates dark money in American politics.
According to Armiak, the group is a “pay-to-play group. It’s made up of corporate lobbyists and state lawmakers.”
ALEC has a strong relationship with the plastic, chemical and fossil fuel industries. The American Chemistry Council, a prominent trade group that represents chemical companies and subsidiaries of fossil fuel companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell, has been a member of ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force for many years, Armiak said. The ACC lobbies against regulations that threaten plastics; for instance, it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars opposing a New York bill that would reduce packaging waste sent to landfills. The ACC even edited school textbooks to include positive messages about plastic bags. “[The ACC has] fought hard to keep the U.S. hooked on disposable plastic products,” Armiak said.