Bonner & Associates Update

A total of nine nonprofits' names have been used by the lobbying firm Bonner & Associates in letters falsely advocating opposition to climate change legislation. As an update to this controversy, investigators have recently found more letters sent to members of Congress. The Washington Post [1] has copies of the letters. According to the National Journal [2], the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has decided to stop working with Bonner. Unfortunately, advocacy organizations may now be uneasy about any future letters they send to legislators and question whether they will be considered illegitimate. For more, read this article from the latest Watcher [3]

Politico [4] looks at the recent health care and energy debates during the August recess. "Interest groups across the spectrum have grown expert at locating, enraging and turning out authentic Americans. And the operatives behind the crowds say there's nothing wrong with a practice as old as American politics. "

The summer of Astroturf — and of accusations of Astroturf — hasn’t been limited to health care. In the single most egregious incident, Bonner & Associates, a lobbying firm, forged the signatures of local ethnic and senior citizens organizations under letters opposing a bill to regulate greenhouse gases. [. . .] And the New York Times reported this week that the coal industry has taken to busing its employees, on company time, to raucous rallies against the climate legislation.