"Our Energy Moment": The Blue Engine Behind Fracked Gas Exports PR Blitz

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Behind nearly every major corporate policy push there’s an accompanying well-coordinated public relations and propaganda campaign. As it turns out, the oil and gas industry’s push to exportย liquefied natural gasย (LNG)ย obtained via hydraulic fracturing (โ€œfrackingโ€) plays the sameย game.

And so on February 5, โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ was born. The PR blitz isย described in a press releaseย announcing the launchย as a โ€œnew coalition dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating the many benefits of expanded markets for liquefied naturalย gas.โ€

Its member list includes industry heavy hitters such as Cheniere Energy, Sempra Energy, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association andย Freeport LNG.

Since its launch, โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ has disseminated press releases about the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) conditional approval of Jordan Cove LNG export facility in Coos Bay, Oregon and its conditional approval of Cameron LNG export facilityย in Hackberry,ย Louisiana.ย ย 

So the industry is funding a PR campaign clearly in its self interest. But so what? You have to read all the way to the bottom of the press releases to find what’s perhaps the most interestingย tidbit.ย 

At the very bottom of โ€œOur Energy Moment’sโ€ releases, a contact person named Tiffany Edwards is listed with an email address ending in @blueenginemedia.com. If you visitย blueenginemedia.comย you’ll find the website for PR and advertising firm Blue Engine Message & Media.ย 

Further, a domain name search for ourenergymoment.orgย reveals the website was registered by another PR and web development firmย calledย Liberty Concepts by its founder and presidentย Jonathan Karush. Karush registered the site on May 8, 2013, a full ten months before the campaign’s official launchย date.ย 

Who are these firms and why do they matter? That’s where the funย begins.

Blue Engineย Mediaย 

According to its website, Blue Engine helps โ€œdevelop and implement strategic public policy campaign plans for corporations, coalitions, non-profits and national trade associations, particularly when reputation, brand or market position face a threat orย opportunity.โ€

Clients past and present include Citibank, Ford, Delta, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the 2008 and 2012 Democratic National Conventions and Obama for President in 2008 and 2012, amongย others.

The firm was founded by Erik Smithย โ€” self-described โ€œrecovering political hack & aspiring corporate hackโ€œย โ€” served asย senior advisor for advertising and message development for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and former Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaignย Committee.


Credit: Twitter Screenshot; April 1,ย 2014

Smith also founded and helped coordinate the Common Purpose Project,ย set up to โ€œdiscuss White House plans, priorities, and messages with [progressive] groups,โ€ according to Mother Jones’ David Corn. โ€œBut some of the outside participants considered the meetings mostly sessions where the administration tossed out talking points and marchingย orders.โ€

Common Purpose has received strong criticism from both investigative journalistย Jeremy Scahillย and founder of FireDogLake,ย Jane Hamsher.ย 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 990 tax forms showย Common Purpose was run out of Blue Media’s office as of 2012ย (the phone number listed on its IRS 990 forms matches the one listed on Blue Engine’s website, as well) and Erik Smithย receivedย overย $1.3 millionย between 2009 and 2012 toย work on this account.ย 

Other Blue Engine luminariesย include:

Adam Abrams: The former regional communications director and spokesperson for President Barack Obama, Abrams was also on the communications team at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and sat on the communications staff for both the Obama 2008 and John Kerry 2004 presidentialย campaigns.

Amber McDowellย andย Jacob Sittig: McDowell formerly served as Communications Director for U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the new head of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Sittig wasย Landrieu’s formerย Deputy Press Secretary.ย 

Jessica Borchert: Borchert worked on theย Obama 2012 campaign. In that capacity, she did โ€œproduction of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina and [worked] on the ground in Colorado coordinating pressย operations.โ€

Catherine Lavelle:ย Lavelle worked on the Obama for President team in 2012 and also was the Media Logistics Manager for the 2012 Democratic Nationalย Convention.ย 

Further, Laura Burton Capps โ€”ย formerย Assistant to George Stephanopoulos in the Bill Clinton White House and speechwriter for Clintonย โ€” was a Blue Engine principal until 2013. Capps also formerly worked on the staff for the Common Purpose Projectย and is listed as the principal officer on its 2011 IRS 990ย form.


President Bill Clinton (L) and Laura Burton Capps to his right; Photo Credit: Gettyย Images

Laura Capps is married to Bill Burton, former Deputy Press Secretary for Obama and co-founder of Priorities USA, a โ€œdark moneyโ€ Democratic Super-PAC set up to compete with Republican โ€œdark moneyโ€ Super-PAC Crossroads GPS.ย 

And then there’s Tiffany Edwards, the point person for the โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ file and where this whole inquiryย began.

Before coming to Blue Engine, Edwards served as Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Energy โ€” the agency with final legal decisionmaking power over LNG export proposals โ€” for the first two years of the Obama Administration. Prior to that, she worked for the 2008 Obama campaignโ€™s press staff in the Chicagoย headquarters.

Roll Call reported she was hired on February 3, meaning โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ was likely the first file on her Blue Engine account. Edwards hasn’t responded to questions sent to her via email byย DeSmogBlog.ย 

Libertyย Concepts

Like Blue Engine, Liberty Concepts maintains tight ties with the Democratic Party and groups with close ties to the party, describing itself as a โ€œfull service digital communications agency that specializes in helping create brands and develop online communities aroundย them.โ€

Liberty Concepts has lent its web expertise to the electoral campaigns of New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Sen Michael Bennet (D-CO), as well as on behalf of Priorities USA Super-PAC and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.ย 

โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ Politico Launchย Event

โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ held its first event in the public square by sponsoring โ€œEnergy & the 113th Congress,โ€ hosted byย Politico.

Two of the presenters were Congressmen who are among the most outspoken supporters of fracked gas exports: U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX).


Politico’sย โ€Energy & the 113th Congressโ€ Photo credit: Twitter

Both Barrasso and Bartonย have collected tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. Further, each has financial investments in assets standing to gain from U.S. LNG exports, according to their financial disclosureย forms.

Barton’s 2012 disclosure shows he has $50,000-$100,000ย invested in shale gas industry giant EOG Resources, while Barrasso’s 2012 disclosure shows he hasย $100,000-$250,000 invested in Warren Buffett’s freight rail (and frac sand/fracked oil-carrying) giant, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). BNSF is also considering running some of its engines on LNG.ย 

Also in the house for the Politico event: David Goldwyn, former U.S. State Departmentย special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs from 2009-2011 for the Obama Administration, current non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and owner of a consulting group, Goldwyn Globalย Strategies.

An interview with Goldwyn is featured on the โ€œOur Energy Momentโ€ YouTube channel.

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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