Ford Just Dumped ALEC, Latest Major Corporation to Dump American Legislative Exchange Council

Ford Just Dumped ALEC, Latest Major Corporation to Dump American Legislative Exchange Council
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By Nick Surgey, originally published by the Center for Media and Democracy

Ford Motor Company confirmed to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that it is cutting ties with theĀ American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that has drawn heavy criticism for promoting climate change denial and for opposing the development of renewable energy sources.
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ā€œAs part of our annual budget review, we have adjusted our participation in several groups. We will not be participating in ALEC in 2016,ā€ wrote Christin Baker, a Ford spokesperson in an email to CMD.
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Its products might be ā€œFord Tough,ā€ but in making the decision to stop funding ALEC, Ford executives are responding to consumer concern over its membership in the controversial, Koch-funded ALEC, which has both an extreme anti-worker agenda as well as an anti-environmental agenda.
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The departure makes Ford the 108thĀ identified company to cut ties with ALEC inĀ recentĀ years.

ALEC Keeps Getting Dumped Over ClimateĀ Denial

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One of the largest auto makers in the world, with many union plants in North America, Ford hasĀ tried to present itselfĀ as as a leader on worker relations, climate change and fuel efficiency.
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FordĀ touts itselfĀ as ā€œforward-thinkingā€ and ā€œenvironmentally responsible,ā€ andĀ advocates ā€œscience-basedā€Ā strategies for addressing climate change. Ford also participates in the United NationsĀ Global Compact, which requires corporations to address key principles such as human rights, labor standards, and the environment.
Ford claimsĀ that the company ā€œis committed to doing our share to prevent or reduce the potential for environmental, economic and social harm due to climate change.ā€
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CMD first reported on Ford’s funding of ALEC inĀ November 2015Ā at a time when other companies were fleeing ALEC. Google announced it was leaving ALEC in September 2014, calling its membership a ā€œmistake.ā€ Chairman Eric SchmidtĀ toldĀ NPR‘s Diane Rehm that ALEC climate deniers were ā€œmaking the world a much worse place… they’re just literally lying.ā€ The departure of Google lead to a corporate exodus and the Koch-ALEC war on renewable energy has generated a great deal of public attention, most recently with anĀ exposeĀ inĀ Rolling Stone.
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The Koch-ALEC role in promoting controversial anti-union legislation, like ā€œright to workā€ passed in Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia, may have also caused concern for the union firm.
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Since CMD launched theĀ ALEC ExposedĀ investigation in 2011, 108 corporations and 19 non-profitsĀ have left ALEC, including BP, Shell, Visa, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, McDonald’s, and Google (now Alphabet). In 2015, CMD/PRWatch co-launched a website that documents the teaching of climate change denial to legislators at ALEC conferences:Ā ALECClimateChangeDenial.org.
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Jessica Mason contributed to this article.
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Ford Just Dumped ALEC, Latest Major Corporation to Dump American Legislative Exchange Council

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