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SMOG IN YOUR STATEHOUSE:

How ALEC puts Polluters above People
The American Legislative Exchange Councils Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force has given many of the worlds most polluting companies direct access to U.S. state legislators. Politicians and corporations vote as equals on ALEC model bills in secretive meetings, providing a tax-free lobbying service for ALEC member corporations. Operating under the guise of free market environmentalism, ALECs energy and environment agenda undermines common sense principles of environmental stewardship: ALEC s Electricity Freedom Act was designed by the Heartland Institute to repeal state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), laws requiring utility companies to increase clean energy electricity generation over time. ALEC legislators supported attacks on RPS in 15 states in 2013, with key battlegrounds in Kansas, North Carolina, and Ohio. ALECs Resolution in Support of the Keystone XL Pipeline has passed in at least ten states. ALEC has arranged for numerous legislators to go on all-expense paid trips to the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. ALEC legislators have been asked to thank the corporations that underwrote the trip but not all lawmakers have told their constituents about the trips. ALECs misnamed Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act , has prevented state agencies from requiring full public disclosure of the dangerous chemicals used in oil & gas fracking in states across the country. ALECs Environmental Literacy Improvement Act forces teachers in several states to misrepresent science to students with a balanced view on climate change. ALECs Animal and Ecological Terrorism act equates people who blow the whistle on cruel treatment of animals with terrorists, punishing those taking personal risk to document brutal animal abuse, food contamination and pollution incidents. Nine states saw similar ag-gag bill introduced in 2013. ALECs State Withdrawal from Regional Climate Initiatives is used to remove states from cooperative cap-andtrade programs such as RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

ALECS DIRTY WORK IN 2014:

ALEC and its utility interest members, including Edison Electric Institute lobbyists, will attempt to penalize small-scale solar energy producers participating in state net metering programs by charging solar producers for feeding excess energy back into the grid. ALEC staff and legislators have promised to continue attacks on state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to undermine incentives for clean energy jobs. ALEC legislators are pushing resolutions to obstruct the Environmental Protection Agencys limits on carbon pollution. ALEC lawmakers in Florida introduced HB71 to keep fracking chemicals secret. ALEC and its State Policy Network affiliates will likely re-focus on pulling northeast states out of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). See The Guardian on SPN.

! ALECs Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force:

Co-chaired by state Rep. Thomas Lockhart (R-Wyo) and Paul Loeffelman of American Electric Power ($15B in revenue in 2013). Composed of oil, gas, coal, chemical, agriculture, and biotechnology, plus other multinationals. See list here.

Koch Industries, known for financing dozens of

organizations involved in denying climate science and blocking climate policies, has been on ALECs board for two decades, providing key support: Koch gave ALEC a $440,000 loan during financial trouble in 1997 Koch lobbyist Mike Morgan has been ALECs corporate chairman Koch foundations fund ALEC outside of Koch Industries membership dues

A History of Climate Change Denial

ALEC is one of the key policy groups in the Global Climate Science Communications Action Plan, exposed by the New York Times in 1998. This blueprint was drafted at the American Petroleum Institute to confuse American media and pubic over the conclusions of climate scientists.

Has ALEC Polluted Your Democracy?

The Center for Media and Democracy tracked 77 ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture model bills that were proposed in states in 2013. ALECs polluter-crafted bills surfaced in at least 37 states last year.

Actions You Can Take:

Look for anti-environmental bills introduced by ALEC politicians in your state. Join the campaign at StandUpToALEC.org and reach out to your state legislator. Spread the word at Facebook.com/StandUpToALEC and on Twitter with #StandUpToALEC and #ALECexposed.