The New York Times has uncovered an “unprecedented, secret alliance” between fossil fuel companies and U.S. state attorneys general intent on rolling back the Obama Administration’s regulatory agenda.
The Times “submitted open-records requests for correspondence between certain energy industry executives and attorneys general who are helping lead an effort they call the Rule of Law campaign to combat Obama administration regulations,” Lipton writes. “Thousands of pages of correspondence emerged,” including official submissions to the Environmental Protection Agency that were scripted by companies like Oklahoma-based Devon Energy.
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“Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year,” the Times notes.
“When you use a public office, pretty shamelessly, to vouch for a private party with substantial financial interest without the disclosure of the true authorship, that is a dangerous practice,” said David B. Frohnmayer, former Republican attorney general of Oregon. “The puppeteer behind the stage is pulling strings, and you can’t see. I don’t like that. And when it is exposed, it makes you feel used.”
