ALEC Must Die

There is a sinister force that is corrupting American politics by giving the most environmentally destructive elements of Big Business significant control over state legislatures. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) turns 40 this year. This organization is composed of large corporations and state lawmakers. They draft environmentally harmful model laws that have been adopted in state legislatures across the country.

ALEC describes itself as “nonpartisan public-private partnership” and is registered as a not for profit organization. While the organization enjoys 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, many groups see it as little more than a front for one of the most powerful and influential lobby groups in America.

Video - United States of ALEC

Moyers & Company presents "United States of ALEC," a report on the most influential corporate-funded political force most of America has never heard of -- ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a "nonpartisan public-private partnership." But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.

Video - United States of ALEC: A Follow-Up

Moyers & Company follows up on a breakthrough 2012 report about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a "nonpartisan public-private partnership." But behind that mantra lies a network of lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.

Video - ALEC's Organized Corruption

ALEC creates model bills, drafted by lobbyists and lawmakers. This includes support for the lax regulations in the fossil fuel industry and resistance to clean sources of energy.

However there ALEC's influence extends far beyond crafting model legislation. As explained in the New York Times, "a review of internal ALEC documents shows that this is only one facet of a sophisticated operation for shaping public policy at a state-by-state level. The records offer a glimpse of how special interests effectively turn ALEC's lawmaker members into stealth lobbyists, providing them with talking points, signaling how they should vote and collaborating on bills affecting hundreds of issues like school vouchers and tobacco taxes. The documents — hundreds of pages of minutes of private meetings, member e-mail alerts and correspondence — were obtained by the watchdog group Common Cause and shared with The New York Times..."

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Video - How ALEC Controls US Legislation

This is an important report on the subversion of America's legislative process by Big Oil and other corporate interests. The "United States of ALEC," is a report from Moyers & Company on the most influential corporate-funded political force most of America has never heard of -- ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Corruption Undermines Environmental Protections

Corruption is a major global problem that has a direct impact on efforts to manage the world’s resources and combat climate change. Countries in South Asia, northern Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are among the most corrupt places in the world. Other countries are by no means exempt as corruption is pervasive around the world.

According to a Transparency International report titled Global Corruption Report: Climate Change, risks exist in political decision-making, climate finance and the management of public funds. As stated in the report, “Where huge amounts of money flow through new and untested financial markets and mechanisms, there is always a risk of corruption.” The report further indicates that total global climate change investments will reach almost $700 billion by 2020.

The countries that are most vulnerable to climate change tend to be the most corrupt. The TI report on global corruption and climate change ranks nations according to their corruption risk, where zero is extremely corrupt and 10 is “very clean.” Not even one of the 20 countries most affected by climate change scored higher than 3.5.

Big Oil's Influence on US Politicians

A new analysis from the NRDC Action Fund and the advocacy group Environment America reveals that money from oil interests appears to be influencing the voting records of US lawmakers. The analysis of the relationship between oil money and American politicians was published on September 12 in a report titled "Who Votes Dirty?" Along with examining the votes on House and Senate bills for or against air pollution regulations, the NRDC analysis also looked at campaign contributions from "dirty industries."

The NRDC Action Fund analysis found a strong link between campaign contributions from polluters, and votes against clean air legislation. Congresspersons who took more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from career polluters also voted against clean air laws nearly twice as many times as those who accepted less than $100,000 from dirty industries. In the Senate, those who took more than $500,000 in campaign contributions from career polluters, voted against clean air laws three times as often as those taking less.

GRI Sustainability Reporting on Anti-Corruption and GHGs: Call for Public Comment

GRI invites you to help shape sustainability reporting on anti-corruption and greenhouse gas emissions, by providing feedback on proposed new reporting guidance before 12 November 2012. The full G4 Exposure Draft is still available for public comment until 25 September 2012. You can comment on the whole draft, and on the proposed new guidance on anti-corruption and greenhouse gas emissions separately, by following a simple process:

1. Download and read the G4 Exposure Draft (click here), or anti-corruption (click here) or greenhouse gas emissions guidance (click here).