Wetlands Front Group Funded By Big Oil Wants To Ensure Taxpayers Foot The Bill For BP's Gulf Destruction

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
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UPDATE: Sandra Bullock has issued a statement through her publicist sayingย that,

โ€œMs. Bullock was originally contacted through her attorney to be a part of the PSA in order to promote awareness of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. At no time was she made aware that any organization, oil company or otherwise had influence over Women of the Storm or its message. We have immediately asked for her participation in the PSA be removed until the facts can be determined. Her commitment to the Gulf region has been apparent for many years and she will continue to pursue opportunities that will bring awareness and support to the plight of the Gulfย region.โ€

A group of oil companies including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Chevron and other polluters are using a front group called โ€œAmericaโ€™s WETLAND Foundationโ€ and a Louisiana womenโ€™s group called Women of the Storm to spread the message that U.S. taxpayers should pay for the damage caused by BP to Gulf Coast wetlands, and that the reckless offshore oil industry should continue drilling for the โ€œwholesale sustainabilityโ€ of the region.

Using the age-old PR trick of featuring celebrity messengers to attract public attention, Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation is spreading a petition accompanied by a video starring Sandra Bullock, Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz, Emeril Lagassi, John Goodman, Harry Shearer, Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees and others.

The video urges petition signers to โ€œBe The Oneโ€ to demand the government devise and fully fund a plan to restore the Gulf. There is no mention that BP, Halliburton, Transocean, Cameron, or any other oil industry player โ€œbe the oneโ€ to pay for the damage done to the Gulf. Why call on the government to once again foot the bill for this dirty industryโ€™s reckless behavior?

Perhaps the celebrities featured in the groupโ€™s videos are unaware of AWFโ€™s true intent, and signed up thinking that they were helping the Gulf Coast cause in the wake of the BP gusher. But under the surface it sure looks like they are being used as pawns to lure the public into the oil industryโ€™s corner, ensuring that taxpayers pick up the tab for much of the damage caused by BP et al to the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coast communities, economies, and the environment.

The celebrity video announcement leads viewers to RestoreTheGulf.com where a curious reader would learn that a group called Women of the Storm is behind the effort. But a click through to the โ€œsponsorsโ€ page reveals that this effort is actually led by Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation, which is funded chiefly by the same oil companies who have ruined the Gulf and endangered the planet with their global warmingย emissions.

The Americaโ€™s WETLAND Foundation (AWF) was launched in 2002 with primary support from Shell Oil and a host of other oil companies. AWF is run by the PR shop Marmillion+Company, whose founder previously served as a PR manager at ARCO and staffer to various GOPers. According to the Washington Post:

โ€œShell Oil, worried about its offshore drilling platforms, put up several million dollars for a PR campaign to rebrand Louisianaโ€™s marshes as โ€˜Americaโ€™s Wetland.โ€™โ€

A quick look at the sponsors of Americaโ€™s WETLAND Foundation reveals the oily underpinnings of this greenwashing campaign, with Shell serving as โ€œWorld Sponsor,โ€ and a long list of oil companies, the American Petroleum Institute and other polluting interests who back the group financially as well.

Founded in January 2006 in response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Women of the Storm might seem like a truly grassroots organization to the casual observer. Is it possible that they never figured out that the oil companies behind Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation had an ulterior motive in โ€˜partneringโ€™ with their group – to greenwash the oil industryโ€™s efforts to stick taxpayers with the bill for damage caused by drilling activities in the Gulf? Perhaps Women of the Storm were willing to take any help they could get, given the horrible response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by the Bush Administration.

Anne Milling, founder of Women of the Storm, says that the organization has never received a penny directly from BP or any other major oil company, although she did acknowledge Women of the Storm received advisory assistance from some of these entities when originally launching the project after Hurricane Katrina. Mrs. Milling was unapologetic when asked about the prominent placement of the Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation banner on the groupโ€™s website and its various partnerships with the oil-backed group. She sees nothing wrong with AWFโ€™s cozy relationship with the same oil and gas giants that are partly responsible for the coastal wetlands degradation that is the focus of her groupโ€™s concern.

Why? Perhaps because she is married to R. King Milling, the chairman of Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation, Mrs. Milling sees nothing wrong with the oil connections.

Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation and Women of the Storm are partners in another affiliated campaign called โ€œAmericaโ€™s Energy Coastโ€ whose tag line is โ€œShore Up, Fuel The Nation.โ€

Last fall, Americaโ€™s Energy Coast released a white paper called Region at Risk: Preventing the Loss of Vital National Assets [PDF], which called on Congress and the Obamaย administration

โ€œto resolve the maze of bureaucratic roadblocks that threaten the long-term sustainability of region.โ€

The AWFโ€™s โ€œAmericaโ€™s Energy Coastโ€ white paper lays out what the oil-funded campaign is primarily concerned withย protecting:

โ€œAtโ€ฉ riskโ€ฉ isโ€ฉ an engine โ€ฉthatโ€ฉ fuels,โ€ฉ feedsโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ supportsโ€ฉ theโ€ฉ Americanโ€ฉ economy.โ€ฉ Thisโ€ฉ isโ€ฉ theโ€ฉ nationโ€™sโ€ฉ energyโ€ฉ corridorโ€ฉ thatโ€ฉ providesโ€ฉ 90%โ€ฉ of โ€ฉtheโ€ฉ domestic โ€ฉoffshore โ€ฉoilโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ gasโ€ฉ supplyโ€ฉ and โ€ฉis โ€ฉtied โ€ฉto โ€ฉ50% โ€ฉof โ€ฉthe โ€ฉnationโ€™s โ€ฉrefining โ€ฉcapacity.โ€

Never mind the pelicans and dolphins, this is all about oil production. In language that demonstrates fully the bastardization of the word โ€œsustainabilityโ€ by polluting interests, the paperย suggests:

โ€œโ€ฆourโ€ฉ nationโ€ฉ does โ€ฉnotโ€ฉ fullyโ€ฉ appreciate โ€ฉtheโ€ฉ benefits โ€ฉderived โ€ฉfromโ€ฉ these โ€ฉworking โ€ฉwetlands. โ€ฆ โ€ฉThe โ€ฉongoingโ€ฉ debate โ€ฉat โ€ฉthe โ€ฉnational โ€ฉlevel โ€ฉon โ€ฉthe โ€ฉbest โ€ฉuse โ€ฉof โ€ฉtheโ€ฉ regionโ€™sโ€ฉ naturalโ€ฉ resourcesโ€ฉ hasโ€ฉ failed โ€ฉtoโ€ฉ recognize โ€ฉtheโ€ฉ urgentโ€ฉ needโ€ฉ forโ€ฉ comprehensiveโ€ฉ solutions โ€ฉtoโ€ฉ theโ€ฉ challengeโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ wholesale โ€ฉsustainability.โ€ฉโ€

โ€œWholesale sustainability?โ€ And by that the AWF apparentlyย means:

โ€œโ€ฆโ€ฉno โ€ฉgreater โ€ฉthreat โ€ฉto โ€ฉsustainabilityโ€ฉ exists โ€ฉthan theโ€ฉ threat โ€ฉofโ€ฉ inaction โ€ฉorโ€ฉ theโ€ฉ mazeโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ governmentalโ€ฉ processes thatโ€ฉ preventโ€ฉ efficientโ€ฉ solutions.โ€ฉโ€ฉ โ€ฆ โ€ฉthe โ€ฉlong-termโ€ฉ survivalโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ successโ€ฉ of โ€ฉthisโ€ฉ region โ€ฉisโ€ฉ ultimatelyโ€ฉ tiedโ€ฉ to โ€ฉlarge-scaleโ€ฉ Federalโ€ฉ recognition โ€ฉand โ€ฉsupport.โ€ฉโ€ โ€ฆ โ€œAmong โ€ฉtheโ€ฉ mostโ€ฉ challengingโ€ฉ obstaclesโ€ฉ toโ€ฉ achievingโ€ฉ sustainability โ€ฉalongโ€ฉ Americaโ€™sโ€ฉ Energyโ€ฉ Coast โ€ฉare โ€ฉinconsistentโ€ฉ laws, โ€ฉpolicies โ€ฉandโ€ฉ regulationsโ€ฉ atโ€ฉ allโ€ฉ levels โ€ฉofโ€ฉ government.โ€ฉโ€

And why is the oil-backed group such a big fan of restoring wetlands and achieving โ€œA New Sustainabilityโ€? Could it possibly have anything to do with protecting oil rigs andย refineries?

โ€œTheseโ€ฉ coastalโ€ฉ landscapesโ€ฉ provideโ€ฉ protection โ€ฉto millionsโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ peopleโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ hundredsโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ billionsโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ dollars worthโ€ฉ ofโ€ฉ propertyโ€ฉ and โ€ฉinfrastructure because โ€ฉtheyโ€ฉ serveโ€ฉ as โ€ฉbuffersโ€ฉ against โ€ฉhurricanesโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ storm โ€ฉsurges.โ€

The AWF paper even has the gall to blame global warming for threatening oil and gas infrastructure, oblivious to the irony of such anย argument:

โ€œenergyโ€ฉ productionโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ navigationโ€ฉ activitiesโ€ฉ are โ€ฉessentialโ€ฉ toโ€ฉ Americaโ€™sโ€ฉ economicโ€ฉ interests,โ€ฉ butโ€ฉ environmentalโ€ฉ threats,โ€ฉ suchโ€ฉ as โ€ฉincreasinglyโ€ฉ intenseโ€ฉ storms,โ€ฉ risingโ€ฉ seaโ€ฉ levels,โ€ฉ andโ€ฉ ongoingโ€ฉ coastalโ€ฉ erosionโ€ฉ andโ€ฉ subsidenceโ€ฉ poseโ€ฉ a โ€ฉsignificantโ€ฉ risk โ€ฉtoโ€ฉ theโ€ฉ physicalโ€ฉ infrastructure thatโ€ฉ supportsโ€ฉ theseโ€ฉ activities.โ€

This week, AWF ran ads in several DC and Gulf Coast media outlets touting a letter the group sent to Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy. The top priority item requested in theย letter:

โ€œAccelerate [Outer Continental Shelf drilling] revenue sharing to Gulf producing states for coastal restoration.โ€

That would of course mean more risky offshore drilling, one of the primary threats to the Gulfโ€™s health, as the BP disaster has made clear.

So next time you sign a petition ostensibly about โ€˜savingโ€™ the Gulf ecosystem, make sure you know who is behind it first. Americaโ€™s Wetland Foundation seems more interested in saving face for the oil and gas industry and tapping taxpayer coffers to protect oil and gas infrastructure than truly protecting the Gulf Coast.

BP and the rest of the offshore drilling industry should โ€œBe The Oneโ€ to clean up their mess, not the U.S. taxpayer.


Co-authored by Brendan DeMelle and Jerryย Cope.

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
Brendan is Executive Director of DeSmog. He is also a freelance writer and researcher specializing in media, politics, climate change and energy. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Grist, The Washington Times and other outlets.

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