Second Firm Exits Coal Group That Opposes Climate Bill

by Emily Gertz · 2009-09-09 19:30:00 UTC
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Is the coal industry's anti-climate action front group losing steam?

Five weeks ago, news broke that a PR firm hired by one of the most prominent coal lobby groups, the "American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy," had sent forged letters to Congress in opposition to the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate action bill. The letters were made to look as if they were from community groups. Rep. Ed. Markey has since spearheaded a House investigation into the letters, uncovering several more fakes.

A week ago, Duke Energy announced that it had left ACCCE, because powerful members of the pro-coal group oppose the climate legislation, which Duke supports.

Today another company has fled the ACCCE embrace: Alstom Power, a French company that manufactures power plant parts, and works on carbon sequestration.

As Greenwire reports:

"We have resigned from ACCCE because of questions that have been raised about ACCCE’s support for climate legislation,” said Tim Brown, an Alstom spokesman. The French company, which is partnering with U.S. utilities on power-plant projects, said that it wants to “remove any doubt about our full support” for a climate bill...Alstom’s decision also shrinks ACCCE’s membership as the Senate returns and ACCCE lobbies the Senate on its version of climate legislation….

Both Duke and Alstom are part of the US Climate Action Partnership, a business-environmental coalition that supports the creation of a carbon cap-and-trade market in the US. Duke Energy told a North Carolina newspaper that it maintained membership in ACCCE to be a "moderating influence," but that the differences of opinion on climate change had become too extreme.

Climate policy reform wonk Joe Romm of Climate Progress is eager to see what happens next with General Electric and Caterpillar, the only two remaining corporations that are members of both groups. "C’mon Caterpillar and GE — do you really want to go down with the ship? Like the Titanic, the good bad ship ACCCE is coal-powered and steaming too fast in the wrong direction."

Emily Gertz
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