Duke Energy Quits Controversial Coal Lobby Front Group

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In a potentially devastating move for the Washington, DC coal lobby, Duke Energy has announced that it is canceling its membership with the controversial American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE).

Youโ€™ll recall that ACCCE was the coal industry front group recently involved in the Bonner and Associates scandal where fake letters from influential organizations like the AARP were sent to members of Congress urging them to vote against the Waxman-Markey clean energyย bill.

According to a report in the National Journal today, Duke Energy โ€œleft the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy on Tuesday over differences with โ€œinfluential member companies who will not support passing climate change legislation in 2009 orย 2010.โ€

Josh Nelson at Enviroknow obtained a copy of Duke Energyโ€™s talking points on theย matter:

The following are talking points related to Duke Energy withdrawing from the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which Duke Energy has been a member of since the fall of 2007.

ยท While some individual members of ACCCE are working to pass climate change legislation, we believe ACCCE is constrained by influential member companies who will not support passing climate change legislation in 2009 orย 2010.

ยท This became increasingly apparent during and after the debate on the Waxman/Markey legislation in the U.S. House in recentย months.

ยท This is not consistent with Duke Energyโ€™s work to pass economy-wide and cost effective climate change legislation as soon asย possible.

ยท Therefore, effective Sept. 1, 2009, Duke Energy resigned from ACCCE

I expect there will be more moves like this in the near future as energy companies begin to realize that siding with front groups like ACCCE put them on the wrong side of the clean energy issue and the downside of being associated with such a group far outweigh any benefits.

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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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