Fake Letters to Congress Part of Campaign Against Climate Bill

A lobbying firm hired by a major coal industry group has mailed at least 13 fake letters to congressmen falsely claiming that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, senior citizens groups, and a Hispanic advocacy organization opposed a bill placing a cap on carbon emissions. Congressional investigators say that the firm working for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCE) sent out a total of 58 letters to congressmen, and that others may have been fraudulent as well. The lobbying firm, Bonner and Associates, says the letters were sent by a temporary employee, who has since been fired. The House of Representatives passed the so-called cap-and-trade bill in June, and the legislation is now before the U.S. Senate. As part of a continuing effort by many energy companies to defeat the legislation, the American Petroleum Association helped sponsor the first of roughly 20 rallies against the climate bill. At the Houston rally — attended by several thousand people, most of them oil company employees bused in for the occasion —speakers attacked the bill as an energy tax that would have devastating effects on the economy.