Investigating Power
ALEC, Climate, Economy, Environment
Back to the source: In December, for example, state representatives and industry lobbyists at the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) drafted the model “Energy Discrimination and Elimination Act” — from which the Oklahoma bill took its name, according to the Center for Media and Democracy. An accompanying letter obtained by the Center encouraged states to “fight back […]
ALEC, Climate, Economy, Environment, Koch
According to the Center for Media and Democracy, the Texas law originated from a model bill developed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Koch-connected American Legislative Exchange Council. The New Republic reports that the adoption of a similar law proposed in West Virginia would prop up dying coal companies and burden pension funds with risky investments.
David Armiak is the research director at the Madison, Wisc.-based Center for Media and Democracy. The auditor general’s office giving a blanket statement that it does zero live interviews with the media is “shocking,” said Armiak. He added that he can’t think of “any examples in any other states where [a taxpayer-paid office] would” say […]
ALEC, Climate, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Extremism
This year, Republicans in seven other state houses have introduced legislation virtually identical to Isaac’s bill, requiring contractors to sign pledges promising not to boycott energy companies. West Virginia’s version passed both state houses in March, and is awaiting the governor’s signature. In December, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)’s Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task […]
Campaign Finance, Democracy, Extremism, Trump
Thomas also serves on the board of C.N.P. Action, the political advocacy arm of the right-wing Council for National Policy, according to an agenda from the group’s February 2022 meeting obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
Former Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who left office in 2017 to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Donald Trump, was rebuked by an Oklahoma County district judge for taking more than two years to fulfill some records requests. The case involved emails requested by the Center for Media and Democracy in 2015 […]
America’s Frontline Doctors was assembled by leading conservative and Republican organisations such as Tea Party Patriots and the evangelical Council for National Policy (CNP). A CNP conference call leaked by the Center for Media and Democracy showed that Trump campaign staff sought medically qualified voices willing to support the president’s call to reopen the economy. […]
In August 2020, the Center for Media and Democracy found that the SBA distributed between $2.35 and $5.7 million dollars in loans to six groups designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
ALEC, Climate, Economy, Environment
Since the conference, though, like-minded bills featuring shared language have been introduced by Republican state legislators around the country. According to a registration list obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD is also the institution that first reported on the December ALEC meeting), several state lawmakers from drought-affected areas attended the meeting. Some […]
ALEC has opposed efforts to strengthen labor unions and protections for workers, fought environmental and climate regulations, and worked with state lawmakers to punish Palestinian rights activists who support boycotts and divestment from Israel. While the group is more focused on economic issues than the culture wars, ALEC members in affiliated Christian groups have also […]