Think Progress has the whole story, but I’ll repeat it here, since, tragically, it may represent the shape of things to come in climate politics for many years, making it hard for Republicans to do the moral thing on climate:
Last weekend, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) slammed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for supporting “radical climate change legislation,” and “pushing for a massive new energy tax.” Romney is using an anti-environment front group, the American Environmental Coalition (AEC), to attack McCain. Last week, AEC co-chair George Landrith said:
When it comes to climate change, John McCain and Al Gore are far too much alike for my comfort. John McCain has been sponsoring legislation for the past several years that would give Al Gore much of the regulatory control and power he sought when he and Bill Clinton tried to get America to sign on to the UN’s Kyoto global warming treaty …
When listening to John McCain, it would seem that evangelicals should remember the biblical warning found in St. Matthew 7:15 to “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Sad. And quoting the Bible, too! [Note to Romney/AEC — You need a more plausible metaphor: McCain may be many things, but he’s no sheep.]
And as Think Progress progress explains, “AEC is closely tied to the Romney campaign — something Landrith apparently didn’t think to disclose.” AEC’s member rolls reveal the multiple links to the Romney campaign:
Gary Marx, who holds the registration to the AEC website domain name, is “charged with handling conservative outreach for Romney.”
Jay Sekulow, an AEC member, serves as “the co-chair of Mitt Romney’s Faith and Values Coalition.” His son, Jordan, is “a Romney staffer.”
Paul Weyrich, a prominent leader in the social conservative movement who is listed third on AEC’s list of members, endorsed Romney in November.
Lou Sheldon, an AEC member and chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, endorsed Romney and serves as “one of the co-chairs of the ‘Romney for President Faith and Values Steering Committee.'”
Gary Jarmin, seventh on the AEC list, is a vice-chair of Romney’s National Faith and Values steering committee.
Honestly, where do people come up with these Orwellian-named organizations like American Environmental Coalition? Kind of ironic that it has the same acronym as the discredited and disbanded Atomic Energy Commission.
This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
