Republicans have a new strategy to throw a lifeline to fossil fuels. The American Legislative Exchange Council, better known by its acronym ALEC, has new draft legislation that would penalize banks that won't finance fossil fuels and blacklist companies that boycott dirty energy.
An email obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy was sent from the director of a group that supports the draft and said it was an opportunity to push back against financial institutions that are colluding against American energy producers. It is a way to protect the companies that are responsible for destroying the climate.
The Texas bill that the state legislature passed earlier this year was borrowed from by the model text. It also borrows from the Trump administration's practice of labeling majority-Black areas as risky investments and the Republican meltdowns in Congress that likened banks not funding drilling to redlining.
Fossil fuels have been the biggest energy source in the country for a long time because of the power of politics, finance, and the industry. The victim complex is strong in those trying to uphold that hegemony, even as it threatens to wipe out the climate that has allowed humanity to thrive.
CMD obtained an email from the director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He says that the ALEC model bill is based on anti-BDS legislation and was recently passed in Texas to include discrimination against fossil fuels. He said that the goal is to encourage more state legislatures to adopt it and send a strong message that the states will fight back against woke capitalism.
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The mission of the organization is to promote liberty, opportunity, and free enterprise. It and other conservative institutions have a reputation for being horny when it comes to enterprise. Fossil fuels would be loosened by enterprises in the global economy.
After the Texas electricity grid went down in February, the TPPF promoted climate denier talking points for lawmakers to use to cover up the role gas failures played. The group gave a platform to lawmakers looking to cut subsidies for renewable energy, while not giving any information on subsidies for fossil fuels.
The ALEC model bill is in line with this project. It states that energy producing states should avoid doing business with companies that are attacking industries that contribute to their state budgets. It would require states to keep a running list of companies that have climate goals or don't want to finance fossil fuel exploration, something that the International Energy Agency has found needs to end next year to maintain a safe climate. Kate Aronoff likened the new push to the fake controversy over critical race theory to the right's push to turn classrooms into a front of the culture war.
The new draft is similar to the ALEC-created bills that prop up fossil fuels. A model bill that would make protests against fossil fuel infrastructure a crime was finalized by the group. There have been 38 bills introduced in 21 states since then. 16 have passed. One of the most restrictive laws in the country was passed in Montana earlier this year, which would impose fines of up to $150,000 and prison sentences of up to 30 years for individuals who engage in "vandalism" of fossil fuel sites. There is a provision in the bill that could allow fines to be dropped on organizations found supporting protests.
The model anti-protest legislation and draft sanction legislation act as pinscers to stifle dissent on fossil fuels, both chilling free speech and the market. The ALEC bill would send a strong message that the states will fight back against woke capitalism, according to the email. It may result in environmental destruction.
