Subject: [big campaign] Naked forgery exposed
From: "Berning, Nick" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:20:02 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

http://www.foe.org/lobbyists-forge-anti-climate-letters-congress 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, July 31, 2009 

CONTACT:
Avaaz.org: Ben Wikler ([email-masked]) at 646-283-9132
Friends of the Earth: Nick Berning ([email-masked]) at 703-587-4454.

Lobbyists Forge Anti-Climate Letters to Congress

In Response to Forged 'Grassroots' Anti-Climate Letters, Naked Activists
at Lobbyists' Office Say Fossil Fuel Lobby Has No Clothes

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Responding to breaking news that lobbyists forged
letters from constituent groups in order to sway votes against the
Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill, activists protested outside the
offices of Bonner & Associates, the firm reportedly behind the hoax,
wearing jackets, ties, and no pants while holding signs reading "The
Fossil Fuel Lobby: Naked Fraud" and "Coal and Oil: Stealing Our Future."

"Apparently, the fossil fuel industry's tactics are as fraudulent as
their arguments against climate action," said Ricken Patel, Executive
Director of Avaaz.org. "I guess they couldn't find real people opposed
to green-energy jobs."

Friends of the Earth Public Advocacy Director Nick Berning said, "The
fossil fuel industry doesn't just play dirty with the climate, it plays
dirty when it comes to our democracy. It will stop at nothing when it
comes to putting corporate profits over health, jobs, the environment,
and even plain old ethics. This is an outrage."

This morning, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported
<http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/local_govtpolitics/article
/letters_sent_to_perriello_called_fakes._area_advocates_names_forged_by_
d.c./43439/>  that an employee of Bonner & Associates had forged letters
opposing the energy bill and faxed them to Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va) on
the purported letterhead of two Charlottesville-area grassroots groups,
the NAACP and Cresciendo Juntos. In reality, neither group opposed the
legislation. Bonner & Associates reportedly apologized and claimed to
have fired the employee responsible, but the full extent of the fraud is
unknown.

This afternoon, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the House Select
Committee on Global Warming, called for a congressional inquiry into the
forged letters, saying, "This fraud on Congress shows that some
opponents of clean energy have resorted to forgery and theft to block
progress."

According to Charlottesville Daily Progress, the DC-based lobbying firm
Bonner & Associates sent at least six fake letters to Rep. Tom Perriello
urging him to oppose the climate bill. The letters were sent on faked
letterhead purporting to come from the local NAACP and a Hispanic
nonprofit network called Creciendo Juntos. After the fraud was
discovered, a partner at Bonner & Associates traveled to Charlottesville
to personally apologize, and wrote in a letter to Cresciendo Juntos that
the forger had been fired.

Photos from today's protest can be found at 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dc_climate_action/sets/72157621906710696/sh
ow/

Video of today's protest can be viewed here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH0t_Dfn9Nw 

###

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