The New York Times has broken a very revealing story, thanks to a leaked recording of a closed-door meeting of energy companies and PR men.
According to Richard Berman, founder and CEO of Berman & Company consulting firm, energy company executives just need to give him lots of money, and he'll happily create front group charities and use them to make all sorts of nasty allegations against their political opponents. The exact quote: “We run all of this stuff through nonprofit organizations that are insulated from having to disclose donors. There is total anonymity. People don’t know who supports us.” Which is important, because as Berman says "you can either win ugly or lose pretty." By concealing the donors, Berman can provide all the ugly attacks, while Big Oil reaps the rewards of what Berman calls the "endless war."
Berman met with the energy companies to pitch his Big Green Radicals advertisement and PR campaign. The campaign is focused on smearing anti-fracking groups, and he's already started with ads in Pennsylvania and Colorado.
Berman's no stranger to advancing corporate interests at the price of public health. DeSmogBlog has put together a nice little list of one of the other sources of funding for Berman- the tobacco industry. Over 4 years, documents show over $20 million from Philip Morris alone.
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