ALEC’s “our state legislators” are promoting the
anti-sustainability astroturf talking points at the Georgia
state capitol. But ALEC doesn’t seem to be the source of those
talking points. Who is? Follow the money: who stands to benefit the
most by obstructing public transportation, fuel efficiency, and
renewable energy? The fossil fuel companies, especially big
oil.

Lloyd Alter wrote for Treehugger 29 June 2012,
Exposing the Influence Behind the Anti-Agenda 21
Anti-Sustainability Agenda, first pointing out that most people
never even heard of Agenda 21:

…a recent survey showed that most people never heard of it and


only 6% say they are against it. so why are politicians from
State governments up to the National Republican Party and
Presidential candidates like Newt Gingrich make such a big deal of
it?

“People don’t wake up in the morning sweating bullets about the
United Nations.”-Robin Rather

Robin Rather of Collective Strength, who commissioned the
survey, says “I genuinely believe the Agenda 21 phenomenon is
highly manufactured. It’s not out there in the mainstream.”

There are a number of leads back to big oil, starting with one
of the main conduits of the talking points, the John Birch Society,
one of whose founders was Fred Koch, founder of Koch industries,
a diversified multinational that has large fossil fuel components.
His sons David and Charles founded Americans for Prosperity.

When he is not out on the public speaking circuit, Tom DeWeese
is President of the American Policy Center, the loudest mouthpiece
of the anti-Agenda 21 crowd.

Alter digs into APC board connects to big oil,

leading to Amoco, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Exxon, and General
Motors. The one company he found with the most documented dollars
going to organizations or people promoting the talking points is
ExxonMobil. Well, and the Koch brothers:

As Far as the Koch’s Americans For Prosperity goes, they hand
out brochures about Agenda 21 that are almost fair and balanced
compared to some of the stuff I have read.

Some conservatives worry that sustainable development is just a
disguise for a larger scheme to adopt radical environmentalism,
wealth redistribution, or some form of “world
government” through local initiatives. But whether this is
true is largely irrelevant: regardless of the underlying motives
and regardless of the source, the policies themselves prove to be
an affront to property rights and harmful to the American economy.
To those who favor economic freedom and limited government, this
alone is grounds for concern.

AFP branches from Kansas to Oregon appear to have Tom Deweese
constantly on the rubber chicken circuit, he is everywhere.

There’s much more in the article.

Why does it matter who’s behind the talking points? Because big
oil is not very popular, and revealing it’s behind the talking
points can help defeat the talking points.

One of the reasons that California’s Proposition 23, which would
have suspended air pollution controls, was defeated was that it
became clear that the whole thing was being funded by oil companies
and Koch Industries. As the Bay Citizen reported, “Opponents of the
measure successfully painted Prop. 23 as the handiwork of
out-of-state oil companies bent on messing with California’s
laws.”

Bike lanes, transit and higher density are evil because they
give people alternatives to cars, and that can never happen in
America.

Fundamentally, that is what is happening here. Big Oil is paying
for CFACT and either directly or indirectly the fight against
Agenda 21; The Kochs are promoting it like mad, right across the
country. Same big companies, same reason: to keep America in its
happy motoring ways, to make any alternative just about impossible.
And that is how we have to paint them: not concerned citizens
worried about the United Nations, but representatives of big oil
out to preserve their turf.

Which corporations have the biggest fossil-fuel-related
monopolies in Georgia? Oh, right: the utility companies, especially
Georgia Power and its parent the Southern Company. I haven’t found
any direct connection between them and these particular
anti-sustainability talking points, but it’s clear who some of the
corporations are that benefit from them the most: Southern Company
and Georgia Power. And remember Southern Company is apparently a
member of ALEC. Are electric utility monopolies and big oil really who you want
to be promoting at the expense of your neighbors?

For that matter, instead of playing defense against bogus
talking points, how about go on the offense, for example by
proposing
divestment from fossil fuel companies?

-jsq