Hill Heat

Arizona Congressman David Schweikert of the Sixth District rejects the scientific fact of anthropogenic global warming. Rep.Schweikert (R-Ariz.) is the incoming chair of the House Science Committee’s subcommittee that oversees climate change research, The Hill reports. Schweikert is replacing fellow science denier Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment. Stewart left the science committee post in December for a slot on the House Appropriations Committee.

In a 2010 interview uncovered by Hill Heat, then-candidate Schweikert claimed the science of climate change is actually a conspiracy concocted by the “arrogant” “Al Gores of the world,” the “control freaks, the people who want to control my life, want to control my lifestyle.”

“I don’t see the data. You know, I think I have a reasonably good statistics background. And I have not sat there with pages and pages of data. But when you think about the complexity of a worldwide system and the amount of data you’d have to capture, and how you adjust for a sunspot, and how you adjust for a hurricane and I think it’s incredibly arrogant for the Al Gores of the world to stand up and say the world is coming to an end. Because as I kid I remember on the flip side when they were warning me we were going to go into an ice age. . . . I wish people would make up their mind. It’s the control freaks, the people who want to control my life, want to control my lifestyle.”

In the interview, Schweikert also implausibly claimed, “as I kid I remember on the flip side when they were warning me we were going to go into an ice age.”

In reality, the carbon-dioxide greenhouse effect is a physical fact known since the 1800s. During the 1970s, scientific research on the global climate was advancing and popular coverage reflected the variety of scientific opinions about the consequences of man-made pollution on the climate, before the influence of greenhouse pollution became unmistakable by the 1980s. The only scientifically plausible systematic explanation for the rapid warming of the planetary climate since 1950 is industrial greenhouse pollution.

He has also described climate science as “folklore.”

“Understanding what part of climate change is part of a natural cycle and what part has human components is the first step.” Schweikert told the Arizona Republic during his failed 2008 candidacy. “Our elected officials must be careful to react to facts and not folklore.”

During a debate with his 2012 primary against Ben Quayle, Schweikert affirmed he does not believe in man-made global warming, the Phoenix New Times reported. Schweikert has also described the effect of greenhouse limits on coal-fired plants as having “negligible environmental benefit.”

“I’ve learned in Congress it’s not necessarily Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. It’s those that do math and those that don’t,” Schweikert said in a March, 2013 interview. “You need to make policy on facts.”

In a letter sent to President Barack Obama on Thursday, the leaders of the nation’s top environmental organizations aggressively criticized his “all of the above” energy strategy. The 16 groups, ranging from environmental justice organizations such as the Native American Rights Fund to the corporate-friendly Environmental Defense Fund and the progressive advocacy group Voices for Progress, praised the president’s “goal of cutting carbon pollution” but sharply rebuked the White House’s support for expanded fossil-fuel extraction:

An “all of the above” strategy is a compromise that future generations can’t afford. It fails to prioritize clean energy and solutions that have already begun to replace fossil fuels, revitalize American industry, and save Americans money. It increases environmental injustice while it locks in the extraction of fossil fuels that will inevitably lead to a catastrophic climate future. It threatens our health, our homes, our most sensitive public lands, our oceans and our most precious wild places. Such a policy accelerates development of fuel sources that can negate the important progress you’ve already made on lowering U.S. carbon pollution, and it undermines U.S. credibility in the international community.

The groups made special note of Obama’s announcement in June that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would be judged for the “net effects” of its “impact on climate.” The Keystone XL pipeline is incompatible with the 2°ree;C warming limit to which Obama has committed the United States, but the administration may attempt to use a different, high-emissions scenario as the baseline against which to judge the pipeline’s “net effects.”

The environmentalists concluded with the recommendation that the White House’s “all of the above” strategy be replaced with a “carbon-reducing clean energy” strategy:

We believe that a climate impact lens should be applied to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development, and urge that a “carbon-reducing clean energy” strategy rather than an “all of the above” strategy become the operative paradigm for your administration’s energy decisions.

The full text of the letter is below.

John Podesta, an advocate for strong climate action and opponent of the exploitation of unconventional fossil fuels, is joining the White House as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, the New York Times reports.

In a 2010 keynote address at Canada 2020’s “‘Greening’ The Oil Sands: Debunking the Myths and Confronting the Realities,” a Canadian conference promoting tar sands extraction, Podesta apologized for being the “skunk” at the “garden party” as he laid out his profound skepticism about “green” tar sands, comparing it to “clean coal” and “error-free deepwater drilling.”

Below are some key excerpts:

Today, there is almost unanimous agreement that we can add another cost to dependence on high-carbon fuels. And this one is beyond our ability to calculate.

Failing to curb our dependence on fossil fuels will create a world dramatically different than the one we’re currently accustomed to; one in which sea level rise, extreme weather, and reduced resource supplies will not only cause irreparable harm to ecosystems around the globe, but also tremendous human suffering and conflict.

Oil extraction from tar sands is polluting, destructive, expensive, and energy intensive. These things are facts. I think suggesting this process can come close to approximating being “greened” is largely misleading, or far too optimistic, or perhaps both. It stands alongside clean coal and error-free deepwater drilling as more PR than reality.

Oil sands can’t simply be as good as conventional oil. We need to reduce fossil fuel use and accelerate the transition to cleaner technologies, in the transportation sector and elsewhere.

We either rapidly green the world’s engine of economic growth, or we suffer consequences that are very difficult to even fully comprehend, in addition to those we already tolerate. Unconventional sources of fossil fuels cannot be our energy future.

In January 2013, Podesta announced his opposition to Arctic drilling, saying in a Bloomberg op-ed that “there is no safe and responsible way to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean”:

Now, following a series of mishaps and errors, as well as overwhelming weather conditions, it has become clear that there is no safe and responsible way to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean. . . The Obama administration shouldn’t issue any new permits to Shell this year and should suspend all action on other companies’ applications to drill in this remote and unpredictable region.

“Moving beyond fossil fuel pollution will involve exciting work, new opportunities, new products and innovation, and stronger communities,” Podesta said in 2009 Congressional testimony.

In contrast, Podesta has laid out an optimistic vision for smart grids, utility-scale renewable energy development, and global clean-energy investment.

At the Grand Hyatt.

Agenda

7:30am – 3:00pm Registration
8:00am – 9:15am Plenary Breakfast with State Sen. Mark Green (R-Tenn.-22)
9:30am – 2:00pm ALEC Exhibition Hall Open
9:30am – 10:45am Workshops (Topics TBA)
11:00am – 12:15pm Workshops (Topics TBA)
12:30pm – 2:15pm Plenary Lunch with Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)
2:30pm – 5:30pm Civil Justice Task Force Meeting

2:30pm Welcome and Introductions
2:45pm Task Force Update and Sunset Review Overview
2:55pm State Legal Reform Activity Update
3:05pm PRESENTATION: Insights and Experiences from the Phantom Damages Elimination Act
3:20pm Model Legislation: Update to the Non-Economic Damages Act
3:30pm PRESENTATION: Reforming Archaic Discovery Rules on the Federal Level
3:45pm Model Legislation: The Citizen Participation Act [Anti-SLAPP]
4:05pm PRESENTATION: Patent Trolling Litigation: What Can the States Do?
4:20pm PRESENTATION: Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Reform: Fighting Fraud and Preserving Resources
4:35pm Model Legislation: Punitive Damages Standards Act
4:55pm Model Legislation: Update to the Private Enforcement of Consumer Protection Statutes Act
5:10pm Roundtable Open Discussion: New Issues in Lawsuit Reform Around the Country
5:25pm For the Good of the Order
5:30pm Adjournment

2:30pm – 5:30pm Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Meeting

2:30 Call to Order, Welcome and Introductions by Task Force chairs, Rep. Dawn Pettengill, Iowa, and Mr. Emory Wilkerson, State Farm Insurance
Approval of Minutes from 2013 Annual Meeting
Subcommittee Reports: Labor and Business Regulation; Transportation and Infrastructure; Surety Insurance; Financial Services
2:45 Model Policy Consideration: Public Employee Choice Act
3:05 Panel: Insuring the Future – Autonomous Vehicles and the Insurance Industry
4:05 Presentation: Common Sense in Regulating Cosmetic Services Treatments
4:35 Presentation: Minimum Wage Debate Across the States
5:15 Model Policy Consideration: Amendments to ALEC’s  Resolution on Business and Franchise Agreement Legislation  scheduled to sunset
5:30 Adjournment

2:30pm – 5:30pm Communications and Technology Task Force Meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai

2:30pm Welcome
Approval of the Minutes from the ALEC 40th Annual Meeting
Subcommittee Reports and Director’s Announcements
Keynote Presentation by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai
Spotlight on the States Panel: “Promoting Broadband, Protecting Privacy, and Growing E-Commerce in the States”

Electronic Data Privacy Protection Act

Statement of Principles for Cybersecurity

Draft Resolution Affirming the Digital Right to Repair

Consumer Protection Through Disclosure of Digital Rights Model Act

21st Century Technology Issues Panel: “What State Policymakers Need to Know About Congress, Startups, Copyright, and Emerging Technologies”

An Act Protecting Digital Equipment Owners and Small Businesses in Repairing Digital Electronic Equipment

Model Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Law

Statement of Principles for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Resolution Supporting the Efforts of the Telehealth Working Group

New Business
5:30pm Adjourn

2:30pm – 5:30pm Education Task Force Meeting
2:30pm – 5:30pm Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force Meeting

2:30 Call to Order, Welcome, and Introductions
2:35 Presentation: EPA Approaches to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants
2:50 Model Legislation: Resolution in Opposition to EPA’s Plan to Regulate Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act
3:10 Model Legislation: Resolution Concerning EPA Proposed Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for New and Existing Fossil-Fueled Power Plants
3:30 Presentation: Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel
3:45 Presentation: Alarmism and the Science of Chemical Risk
4:00 Model Legislation: Updating Net Metering Policies Resolution
4:20 New Member Introduction: America’s Natural Gas Alliance
4:35 Annual Model Bill Review
4:55 Presentation: EPA’s Adversarial Oversight of States’ Regulatory Regimes for “Fracking,” and What It Means for the Future
5:10 Discussion: Gauging Interest for Future Natural Gas, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Pipeline Symposium
5:25 For the Good of the Order
5:30 Adjournment

3:00pm – 5:30pm Exhibitor Teardown
5:30pm – 6:30pm Chairs Reception
7:00pm-11:00pm State Night (Contact Your State Chair)

Day One

Day Two

At the Grand Hyatt.

Agenda

7:00am – 7:00pm Registration
8:00am – 9:15am Plenary Breakfast with Gov. Matt Mead (R-Wyo.)
9:30am – 5:00pm ALEC Exhibition Hall Open
9:30am – 10:45am Workshops (Topics TBA)
11:00am – 12:15pm Workshops (Topics TBA)
12:30pm – 2:15pm Plenary Lunch with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
2:30pm – 5:30pm Justice Performance Project Task Force Meeting
2:30pm – 5:30pm Health and Human Services Task Force Meeting
2:30pm – 5:30pm Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Meeting

2:30 Call to Order, Welcome, and Introductions
2:35 Old Business – Approval of Annual Meeting Minutes
2:40 A Report from the Public Pension Reform Working Group
2:45 A Report from the Fiscal Policy Reform Working Group
2:50 Budgeting for Priorities in Indiana
3:05 Update from Washington
3:35 The Crossroads of Federal and State Budgets
3:45 The Possible Consequences of a State Fiscal Emergency
3:55 State Economic Principles
4:05 New Research on State Pension Funds
4:15 Appropriation by Litigation
4:25 2014 Legislative Session Preview
4:40 Update on Multi-State Tax Policy
4:50 Discriminatory Sales Taxes
5:00 Consideration of Proposed Model Legislation

Resolution to Reduce the State’s Dependence on Federal Funds

Federal Funds Commission Act

Statement of Principles on States’ Dependence on Federal Funds

5:15 Model Legislation for Five Year Review Process

Constitutional Amendment Restricting the Use of Vehicle Fees and Taxes for Highway Purposes

Resolution to Oppose NCCUSL Effort to rewrite the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes

Resolution to Permanently Repeal the Federal Unified Gift and Estate Tax 

Resolution Urging Congress to Reject “Windfall Profits” Taxes on Energy Companies

Resolution Urging Congress to Update Tax Treatment of Cell Phones

Statement of Principles for Model State Laws to Encourage Philanthropic Creation and Operation

Statement of Principles on Philanthropic Freedom

Resolution Urging Congress to Eliminate Discriminatory State and Local Taxes on Automobile Renters

5:25 New Business
5:30 Adjournment

2:30pm – 5:30pm International Relations Task Force Meeting
6:00pm – 7:30pm Jingle Bell Rock: The ALEC Holiday Party

Day One

Day Three

At the Grand Hyatt.

Agenda

7:00am – 6:00pm Registration
7:00am – 9:00am Exhibitor Set Up
7:30am – 11:30am Subcommittee Meetings of the Communications and Technology Task Force

7:30am – 8:00am E-Commerce Subcommittee

7:30am Welcome and Introductions
7:35am Presentation – “Bitcoin: Primer for Policymakers”
7:45am Policy Discussion: Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
8:00am Adjourn

8:05am – 8:35am Innovation Subcommittee

8:05am Welcome and Introductions
8:10am Presentation – State University Public-Private Partnerships: how state universities help businesses deliver market-ready solutions
8:35am Adjourn

8:40am – 9:25am Information Technology Subcommittee

8:40 am Welcome and Introductions
8:45am Policy Discussion on Resolution to Support the Work of the Telehealth Working Group on Interstate Compact
8:55am Policy Discussion on Draft Resolution Affirming the Digital Right to Repair
9:05am Policy Discussion on An Act Protecting Digital Equipment Owners and Small Businesses in Repairing Digital Electronic Equipment
9:15am Policy Discussion on Consumer Protection Through Disclosure of Digital Rights Model Act

9:30am – 10:10am Consumer Protection, Critical Infrastructure, and Security Technologies Subcommittee

9:30am Welcome and Introductions
9:35am Presentation — Critical Infrastructure: securing the nation’s backbone
Policy Discussion on Statement of Principles for Cybersecurity
Policy Discussion on Statement of Principles for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
10:10am Adjourn

10:15am – 11:15am Broadband Subcommittee of the Communications and Technology Task Force

10:15am Welcome and Introductions
10:20am Presentation – Interconnection: Technology and Policy
11:15am Adjourn

8:00am – 11:00am Subcommittee Meeting of the Education Task Force

8:00am Welcome and Introductions
8:10am Review of the Operating Procedures
8:20am Introduce New Subcommittee: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education 8:30am K-12 Education Reform

Proposed Model Bills for Consideration

Early Intervention Program Act

K-1 Technology-Based Reading Intervention for English Learners Act

Course Choice Act

Student Achievement Backpack Act

Student Futures Program Act

Technical Amendments

The Foster Child Scholarship Program Act

The Education Savings Account Act

Sunset Review

Personal Financial Literacy Act (2009)

10:00am Presentations

“Student-Focused Funding Solutions for Public Education”

“Public Education Appropriations in North Dakota”

10:30am Policy Priorities Discussion

Higher Education

Digital Learning 11:00am Good of the Order/Adjournment

8:00am – 10:15am Subcommittee Meetings of the International Relations Task Force and Federalism Working Group

8:00am – 9:00am Federalism Subcommittee
9:15am – 10:15am Intellectual Property Subcommittee

9:00am – 11:30am Subcommittee Meetings of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force

9:00am – 10:15am Labor and Business Regulation Subcommittee of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force

9:00am Welcome and Introductions by Representative Gary Daniels, New Hampshire, Public Sector Chair and Mr. F. Vincent Vernuccio, Mackinac Center, Private Sector Chair
9:05am Proposed Model Legislation: Discussion and Advisory Vote on the Private Certification Act
9:25am Proposed Model Legislation: Discussion and Advisory Vote on the Public Employee Choice Act
9:40am Proposed Model Legislation: Discussion and Advisory Vote on the Resolution against Legislation that Interferes with Business Agreements
10:05am Discussion and Advisory Vote on the Amendments to ALEC’s Resolution on Business and Franchise Agreement Legislation
10:10am For the Good of the Order
10:15am Adjournment

10:30am – 11:30am Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force

10:30am Welcome and Introductions by Mr. Jim Kvedaras, CN, Private Sector Chair and Public Sector Chair TBA
10:35am “Let’s  Get  Moving: How America Finances its Different Modes of Transportation”: Moving our nation’s people and products is of vital importance to the American economy, and it is imperative that different modes of transportation are able to seamlessly work together. Come hear from a panel of industry experts how America finances the different modes of transportation—surface, rail, aviation, and waterways — and how state policymakers can create an environment in which they can work together to further America’s economic growth.
11:10am Proposed Model Legislation: Discussion and Advisory Vote on Resolution on Autonomous Vehicle Legislation and Regulation
11:25am For the Good of the Order
11:30am Adjournment

9:45am – 11:30am Subcommittee Meetings of the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force

9:45am – 11:15am EPA Strategy Session of the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force

9:45am Call to Order, Welcome, and Introductions
9:50am Discussion of strategies legislative and private sector members can employ to address EPA’s rulemaking to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants
11:15am Adjournment

10:00am – 11:00am Subcommittee Meetings of the Civil Justice Task Force

10:00am – 11:00am Workers’ Compensation Subcommittee

10:00am Welcome and Introductions
10:30am Discussion: Developing Guidelines for Workers’ Compensation Reform
11:00am Adjourn

9:00am – 5:00pm ALEC Exhibition Hall Open
9:00am – 11:00am State Chairs Meeting
11:00am – 12:00pm New Members and Attendees Orientation
11:30am – 1:15pm Opening Luncheon with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)
1:30pm – 2:45pm Workshops (Topics TBA)
3:00pm – 4:15pm Workshops (Topics TBA)
5:30pm – 7:00pm Thomas Jefferson Reception with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.)
9:00pm – 11:00pm Hats Off to Texas: A 41st Annual Meeting Preview Reception

Day Two

Day Three

Center for Media and Democracy’s Nick Surgey has written a comprehensive overview of Google’s recent lobbying efforts, which include:

• $10,000 from Google’s NetPAC to Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for Senate in 2012
• $2,500 to Ted Cruz’s 2018 re-election campaign
• Funding of Heritage Action, which held a nine-city “Defund Obamacare Town Hall Tour” in August 2013 with Sen. Cruz
• “Gold Sponsor” funding for the Federalist Society 2013 annual dinner, featuring Justice Clarence Thomas
• $50,000 sponsorship of the Competitive Enterprise Institute 2013 annual dinner, featuring Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
• Support for Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union, the American Conservative Union, and the Koch brothers’ Cato Institute, all new in 2013

These politicians and organizations describe the scientific threat of global warming from fossil-fuel combustion as a liberal conspiracy to promote policies to seize power, cripple the economy and limit American freedom. They all have close ties to the fossil-fuel industry.

“Political spending for corporations is purely transactional. It is all about getting policies that maximize profitability,” Bob McChesney, founder of Free Press, told CMD. “So even ostensibly hip companies like Google invariably spend lavishly to support groups and politicians that pursue decidedly anti-democratic policy outcomes. It is why sane democracies strictly regulate or even prohibit such spending, regarding it accurately as a cancer for democratic governance.”

Google did not respond to CMD’s request for comment.

At the American Legislative Exchange Council’s upcoming States & Nation Policy Summit, the corporate lobbying group will be considering a resolution aimed to stall rooftop solar deployment.

Green Tech Media’s Stephen Lacey reports:

In early December, ALEC will be holding a task force meeting on energy and environmental issues in Washington, D.C. It has now included net metering on its list of priorities for “model legislation” in 2014.

ALEC recently put together a draft resolution on net metering that will set up discussions at next month’s task force meeting on writing laws changing net metering policies.

As currently written, the resolution lacks detail. But the broad framework mirrors the current debate within utilities about how to restructure crediting mechanisms for solar owners:

1. Update net metering policies to require that everyone who uses the grid helps pay to maintain it and to keep it operating reliably at all times;
2. Create a fixed grid charge or other rate mechanisms that recover grid costs from DG systems to ensure that costs are transparent to the customer; and
3. Ensure electric rates are fair and affordable for all customers and that all customers have safe and reliable electricity.

“The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a trade group for investor-owned utilities, helped write the resolution with ALEC,” writes Lacey. “And Arizona Public Service, a utility at the center of the battle around net metering policy, is also a member of the organization’s energy and environment task force.”

“We supported them. [...] We worked with them on that resolution,” said Rick Tempchin, executive director of retail energy services at EEI, in a video recorded surreptitiously by the Checks and Balances Project. Lacey continues:

Over the summer, EEI released a report warning that distributed generation technologies like solar “directly threaten the centralized utility model” and called for increased attention on how to manage disruption in the power sector.

Months later, EEI began spending money on a campaign to support changes to net metering policy in Arizona — adding to the $9 million already spent by Arizona Public Service.

The electric utility on ALEC’s corporate board, Energy Future Holdings, tells the public it is committed to supporting renewable energy.

Also on the agenda for the energy task force at the 2013 summit is “Discussion of strategies legislative and private sector members can employ to address EPA’s rulemaking to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.” The task force plans to keep ALEC “on record opposing any EPA efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.”

ALEC’s anti-climate agenda is raising questions about why publicly green companies have recently joined the organization. For example, in 2011, Google invested over $350 million in rooftop-solar deployment. In 2013, Google joined ALEC.

The upcoming American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) States & Nation Policy Summit will feature several nationally prominent Republicans with potential aspirations for the U.S. 2016 presidential nomination. The announced speakers at the annual conference of the lobbying group, which links corporations and conservative foundations with Republican state legislators, include, in order of appearance:

• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
• Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
• Gov. Matt Mead (R-Wyo.)
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
• Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)

All five reject the science of climate change, arguing that scientists are part of a conspiracy to attack the use of fossil fuels.

• Johnson: “I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change. It’s not proven by any stretch of the imagination. It’s far more likely that it’s sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time.”
• Ryan: Scientists are guilty of a “perversion of the scientific method, where data were manipulated to support a predetermined conclusion” to “use statistical tricks to distort their findings and intentionally mislead the public on the issue of climate change.”
• Mead: “I am unconvinced that climate change is man-made, but I do recognize we may face challenges presented by those who propose and believe they can change our climate by law with ill-thought-out policy like cap and trade (the latest version of which is the Senate Climate Bill, S. 1733, unveiled May 12th).”
• Cruz: “There remains considerable uncertainty about the effect of the many factors that influence climate: the sun, the oceans, clouds, the behavior of water vapor (the main greenhouse gas), volcanic activity, and human activity. Nonetheless, climate-change proponents based their models on assumptions about those factors, and now we know that many of those assumptions were wrong.”
• Pence: “I think the science is very mixed on the subject of global warming. . . In the mainstream media, Chris, there is a denial of the growing skepticism in the scientific community about global warming.”

Also scheduled to speak is Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lobbyist appointed by President Obama in 2012 as a Republican FCC Commissioner, and rising Republican star State Sen. Mark Green (R-Tenn.-22), a military veteran, former field surgeon, and radical gun-rights advocate.

The climate accountability organization Forecast the Facts is protesting Google’s support for ALEC on account of the council’s opposition to Google’s stated support for climate policy action.

At a recent forum on the Internet industry’s support for green energy, Facebook and Google representatives could not explain why their companies are members of a powerful lobbying organization that opposes that mission. This year, Google and Facebook became members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nationwide lobbying group that links corporations and conservative foundations with Republican legislators at the state level. When asked by Hill Heat, Facebook’s Bill Weihl replied with reference to other Facebook partners, including Businesses for Social Responsibility (BSR), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF):

We’re not an advocacy or a single-issue organization. We’re a company. We are members of many different organizations, that one included. We don’t necessarily agree with everything that these organizations says and certainly individual employees may not, but we do an enormous amount of good and we’re really proud of the work we’ve done through other organizations. We work with Greenpeace, BSR, WRI, WWF, and etcetera.

Watch:

“It’s certainly not because we’re trying to oppose renewable energy legislation,” Weihl concluded, when asked why Facebook is a member of ALEC.

Weihl had earlier noted that Facebook has the explicit goal of being 25% powered by renewable energy by 2015, after which it will set another benchmark. ALEC is working to roll back renewable power standards that support Facebook’s targets.

“The DNA of Google isn’t just about being an environmental steward,” Google’s Gary Demasi said during the panel about climate change. “It’s a basic fundamental issue for the company.”

Like Weihl, Demasi couldn’t explain why Google was a member of ALEC, though he expressed discomfort with the company’s action.

“I would say the same as Bill [Weihl],” Demasi told this reporter when asked why Google supports ALEC. Although he may not be happy with every decision the company makes and doesn’t control the policy arm of Google, Demasi said, “we’re part of policy discussions.”

ALEC’s corporate board is dominated by tobacco and fossil-fuel interests, including Altria, Exxon Mobil, Peabody Energy, and Koch Industries. In its model legislation and policy briefs, ALEC questions the science of climate change and opposes renewable energy standards, regulation of greenhouse pollution, and other climate initiatives.

Google’s policy division is run by former Republican representative Susan Molinari, whose arrival in 2012 marked a rightward shift in Google’s approach to climate policy.

The forum, “Greening the Internet,” was hosted by the environmental organization Greenpeace at the San Francisco Exploratorium. Greenpeace is simultaneously challenging the ALEC agenda, calling out companies like Google for supporting the politics of climate denial, and encouraging internet companies to “clean the cloud.” Greenpeace’s “Cool IT” rankings take political advocacy as a major concern; in 2012 Google had the top score among all tech companies in part because companies such as Microsoft and AT&T were members of ALEC.

The panelists, from Google, Facebook, Rackspace, Box, and NREL, explained why their companies have set the goal of having their data centers be powered entirely by renewable energy.

Box’s Andy Broer made the moral case for acting to reduce climate pollution.

“I’ve got kids,” he said. “We’re stewards here. We need to make certain what we’re doing today doesn’t ruin the future.”

Transcript: