Houston Energy Citizen Event not a Rally – it was a Company Picnic

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Note: the times, dates and locations of all the upcoming American Petroleum Institute โ€œEnergy Citizen ralliesโ€ are at the end of thisย post.

As regular readers will recall, DeSmogBlog was the first blog to report on an API memo obtained by Greenpeace outlining a series of โ€œenergy citizensโ€ rallies that would rely heavily on local oil companies bussing in their employees to create the appearance of a grassroots uprising against the Waxman-Markey clean energyย bill.

Since then, I have received a lot of emails from oil company employees who know these fake rallies are wrong. Members of the Texas Public Citizen group attended the rally, and as they rightly report these were more like a company picnic than a spontaneous uprising ofย citizens.

If youโ€™ve received an invitation to one of these energy citizen rallies, send me an email: [email protected] or call me at 778-240-6343 and let me know the details so we can continue to send folks out to report on these companyย picnics.

Hereโ€™s a list of upcoming astrturfย events:

8/18 (11:30 AM). Houston, TX. Verizon Wireless Center. 8/20 (11.30 AM)

Roswell, NM. Eastern New Mexico State Fairgrounds, Arts and Craftsย Building

8/20 5.30 PM Greensboro, NC. Greensboroย Coliseum.

8/21 (11:30 AM). Lima, OH Veteransโ€™ Memorial and Civicย Center.

8/21 (11:30 AM) Farmington, NM. Convention Center at McGeeย Park

8/22 (11:30 AM). Atlanta, GA. Marriott Centuryย Center.

8/25 (11.30 AM) Nashville, TN. Wild Horseย Saloon.

8/25 (11:00 AM). Elkhart, IN. RV Hall ofย Fame.

8/25 (TBD) Greeley, CO. Island Grove Regional Park, Exhibitย Hall

8/27 (11:30 AM). St. Louis, MO Hilton at theย Ballpark.

8/27 (5.:00 PM) Tampa FL, Tampa Conventionย Center

8/27 (TBD). Bismarck, ND National Center of Energy Excellence at Bismarck State College, 4thย Floor

8/31 (TBD). Anchorage, AK Anchorage Conventionย Center

8/31 (5:00 PM). Greenville, SC. Carolina Firstย Center.

9/1 Springfield IL Time TBD Venue TBD

9/3 (Time TBD) Detroit MI Burton Manor Banquet and Conferenceย Center.

9/3 (4:30 PM). Philadelphia, PA. Venue TBD.

9/3 Richmond, VA. TBD.

9/5 (2:30 PM). Lincoln, NE. Embassy Suitesย Lincoln.

9/7 (1:15 3 2:15 PM). Huron, SD. Freedom Stage, South Dakota Stateย Fair

I will report out anymore details I can get so you can show up with your video cameras and ask questions, like: โ€œDo you know why youโ€™re here today,โ€ or โ€œAre you here because your boss made you come?โ€. If media are at the event, be sure to urge them to report these events as fake astroturf events organized by oil companies. Maybe youโ€™ll get some footage likeย this:

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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