Big Coal is planning an anonymous campaign blitz against elected officials (in Kentucky in this case) who dare to favor any restrictions on coal. That’s according to an internal coal company memo obtained by Kentucky’s Lexington Herald newspaper. This is only a tiny piece of the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision to let corporations pour unlimited anonymous money into political campaigns. How many of these memos do we not know about?
Yet this week, 41 Republica U.S. senators refused to pass a new law simply requiring these corporations (as well as unions) to disclose their sponsorship of political ads.
None of us will even know where such hit pieces came from until at least next year, when corporations report their spending in annual reports. During the election campaigns the “sponsor” will be some made-up “Citizens for a Strong Economy”-type of front group. Oil, natural gas and coal companies are cash-rich and perfectly situated to take advantage.
And you wonder why an effective law to curb climate change is no longer considered possible in the U.S.?
The Lexington Herald quotes from the coal company memo:
“With
the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to
take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing
our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president
and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va.,
in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.
Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.
“A
number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering
developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat
anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal
candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re
requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be
willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson
listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul
for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland
“Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; and Democratic
U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in
West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District.