Lessons from the Coal Industry: Using vs. Engaging Communities of Color

By Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, AlterNet. Posted August 10, 2009.

Last week revealed some of the best and worst moments in the role of people of color in the struggle over our nation's energy and economic future.

First, fraudulent attempts by coal lobbyists to defeat clean energy legislation, by faking support from communities of color, were uncovered.

Then, Green For All, the Hip Hop Caucus, and the Obama Administration announced a new campaign centered around bringing clean energy economy to communities of color: Green the Block.

The contrast between these two efforts illustrates the difference between deceptively using and genuinely engaging communities of color.

The Coal Lobbying Forgery
It started when Congressman Tom Periello's (D-VA) staff was surprised to see identical letters from local Latino and African American organizations in opposition to the House of Representatives' clean energy bill (officially called the American Clean Energy and Security Act, or ACES). So, they called the groups (the local NAACP chapter and Creciendo Juntos), only to find the letters were fakes sent by lobbyists for the coal industry.

Investigations over the last week have revealed that the lobbying firm Bonner & Associates sent a dozen forged letters to Congress, urging Representatives to oppose ACES. Bonner was subcontracted by another lobbying firm, the Hawthorne group, which was hired by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity group, a coal industry group.

Considering that ACES only passed with a vote of 219-212, this foul play threatened to effectively destroy the push for federal clean energy legislation -- legislation that could create millions of jobs, revitalize U.S. manufacturing, and transition America to a clean-energy economy.

Perhaps the coal lobbyists thought they could get away with their forgery because of the misguided assumption that communities of color are generally disengaged from politics, and from issues related to the environment and climate change specifically.

In fact, the opposite is true.  People of color and groups that work with them are, now more than ever, taking a leadership role in the push for clean energy and bold climate policy.

See more stories tagged with: environment, energy, green for all, forged letters, coal companies, green the block

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the CEO of Green for All.

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