BP Trapped in ‘Advocacy for Hire’ Scheme

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/93645/bp-trapped-in-advocacy-for-hire-scheme

BP Trapped in ‘Advocacy for Hire’ Scheme
By Andrew Restuccia 8/4/10 9:42 AM


The Washington Post has an interesting story today on so-called “advocacy-for-hire,” in which, the Post says, “ideological groups wage stealth messaging campaigns with little disclosure of their funding or possible motives.” The lead example in the story is the Institute for Energy Research, a non-profit group with ties to the oil industry. It turns out, IER asked BP to pay $100,000 to a campaign defending the oil industry soon after the Gulf oil spill. When BP declined, the group turned on the company.

According to the Post:

Although BP took a pass, the group’s advocacy arm went ahead with a campaign — only instead of defending BP, it vilified the company as a “safety outlier” in an otherwise safe industry. The campaign’s Web site features dozens of images of the burning rig, oil-smeared birds and other environmental devastation from the spill.

WaPo story here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080306818.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

BP's fight against energy nonprofit highlights murky world of advocacy-for-hire

[wordpix]

1. however, BP IS a "safety outlier" with 730 violations, some serious, in Gulf before blowout

:shrug:

[wordpix]

3. and non-profits are not supposed to engage in political work

sounds political to me if these oil advocacy groups are advocating for more drilling and getting rid of the moratorium

[blogslut]

2. Kick

I recced this too but apparently, well...