Fossil fuel-funded group hits Democrats for choosing clean energy over oil and gas

The American Action Network has launched a six-figure advertisement campaign accusing four Democratic lawmakers of failing to lower energy prices and endangering national security by opposing a bill that would roll back environmental regulations and boost fossil fuel drilling. The dark money, tax-exempt political group has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from the oil and gas industry since its founding 13 years ago.

Four virtually identical ads target Reps. Yadira Caraveo (CO), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Wiley Nickel (NC), and Gabe Vasquez (NM). According to the Cook Political Report, all four face competitive 2024 reelection races.

The spot criticizing Caraveo features a narrator saying:

Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo had a chance to lower gas prices, utility bills, the cost of living. But Caraveo blew it. By voting against the bipartisan Lower Energy Costs Act, she put China over our energy and national security. While others crossed the aisle to deliver for American families, Caraveo sided with out-of-touch liberal activists over you. Congresswoman Caraveo could have done the right thing, but instead, she blew it.

In a press release issued on Thursday, American Action Network said it will spend $500,000 on digital ads in the four congressional districts and already spent $1.5 million in March backing the bill.

The Lower Energy Costs Act, designated H.R. 1, is a fossil fuel industry-backed package that would loosen federal environmental regulations, make it easier for oil and gas companies to get drilling permits and to build pipelines, and expand mining. It also includes provisions that would undermine the development of wind energy production.

“These proposals would really be locking us into just decades of dirty, volatile fossil fuels and really kind of perpetuate the environmental injustices that have already occurred, particularly to front-line and marginalized communities,” America Fitzpatrick, conservation program director at the League of Conservation Voters, told the American Independent Foundation in March. “I think it’s clear these are giveaways to their oil and gas industry friends.”

While the ad calls the legislation bipartisan, just four House Democrats voted for it and one Republican voted against it. It passed in the House of Representatives on a 225-204 vote on March 30. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill “a partisan, dead-on-arrival, and unserious proposal for addressing America’s energy needs that they have laughably labeled H.R. 1. It is a non-starter in the Senate.”

House Republicans included the bill as part of their Limit, Save, Grow Act debt ceiling legislation, which would pair a $1.5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling with $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. That bill passed on a 217-215 vote in the House without a single Democratic representative in support, but also stalled in the Democratic-led Senate.

The American Action Network does not disclose its donors, but public records reveal that it and its affiliated American Action Forum think tank have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the American Petroleum Institute, the trade group for the oil and gas industry. They have also received tens of thousands of dollars from American Natural Gas Alliance, a now-defunct coalition of natural gas-related companies.

The American Action Network was created in 2010 and is chaired by former Republican Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman. It has a long history of running dishonest ads against Democrats based on the talking points of its industry donors.  

A spokesperson for the group did not immediately respond to an American Independent Foundation inquiry for this story.

In the group’s press release, its president, Dan Conston, said: 

While the House majority continues working for American families to help make life more affordable, the left continues obstructing commonsense efforts to bring down the cost of living. President Biden and his allies in Congress consistently demonstrate a complete disregard for the American family – first with their rejection of bipartisan efforts to lower energy costs and now with their rejection of responsible reforms to lower our debt and get our fiscal house in order. Americans deserve better.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.