Stop the Lies: Blow The Whistle

Now anyone with information about energy companies using deceit, lies, and unlawful practices can do something about it: They can report what they know on the new, toll-free Polluter Fraud Hotline.

Call 866-363-4648 or email tips@polluterfraud.com.

Civil rights groups and environmental groups united to launch the hotline this week. Sponsors include the American Association of University Women (AAUW), National Wildlife Federation (NWF), NAACP, Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Sierra Club. Some of these groups were themselves victims of fraudulent practices.

In July investigators discovered that energy companies used forged letterhead from the AAUW to send letters to Congress criticizing new energy legislation, and in one case used the name of a deceased AAUW member.

“As we know all too well by now, a contractor for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity sent more than a dozen forged and fraudulent letters to members of Congress in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act,” said NWF’s Adam Kolton in a press conference on September 7. “ACCCE and its contractor, Bonner & Associates, are now under investigation by the House Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence.”

The forged letters might be just the tip of the iceberg, according to the groups operating the tip line – and that’s what they hope to find out.

“Between the fake letters to Congress and a recently leaked American Petroleum Institute memo urging its member companies to have their employees masquerade as concerned ‘energy citizens’ at events closed to actual citizens, it’s becoming increasingly clear that additional steps need to be taken to ensure that a fair, open and honest debate takes place on the clean energy jobs bill,” Kolton said.

The increasing amount of fraudulent activity demanded an increasing need to respond, according to Tony Iallonardo, NWF senior communications manager.

Industry insiders and members of the general public are encouraged to call the tip line if they have any information concerning forged letters or events staged by energy companies to look like citizen grassroots events. The coalition will follow up on every credible-sounding tip and will turn the information over to the Justice Department, the Congressional investigation and the media. “Our intent is to shed light on the entire process, especially the dishonest lobbying and advocacy,” Iallonardo said.

-- Suzanne B. Bopp