Pro-coal 'grassroots group' created by Washington, D.C., lobbyists

by: Carnacki

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 16:30:52 PM EDT

I'm not surprised:

"The Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security (FACES of Coal)." the latest "grassroots" organization to join the public conversation on behalf of the coal industry, appears to be a project of the K-Street public relations firm, the Adfero Group, one of industry's most accommodating voices in Washington, D.C.

Just yet another example of astroturfing by the corporations to create a false impression of wider public support than they truly have.

Phony Astroturf groups manipulate democracy in a way that is pointedly dishonest. They work to convince legislators that "people from all walks of life" - also known as "voters" - are fired up about an issue, when in fact the voters in question are the kind of people Eugene McCarthy used to call "provocateurs," taking money from industry to pretend to hold a paricular opinion. It's a practice that should stop - and, clearly, it won't stop without being banged with a legislative hammer.