Atlantic Bridge and the climate skeptic connection
- 11 Oct 2011, 09:00
- Robin Webster
The
developing scandal around Defence Secretary Liam Fox's
association with Adam Werrity has continued apace, as it becomes
increasingly evident that
Fox's job is on the line. Slightly less of the media coverage
has concentrated on the charity Atlantic Bridge, of which Werrity
was the executive director.
According to the Guardian, Atlantic Bridge was established in
1997 to "strengthen the special relationship" between the US and
the UK. Werrity was
installed as "the executive director and sole employee of the
charity" and Michael Gove, George Osborne and William Hague were on
the advisory council. In 2003 it was registered as a charity, with
the charitable aims:
".....The furtherance of public
education on both sides of the Atlantic, in areas of common
interest, focusing particularly but not exclusively on free trade,
economics, health and science. Research into relations between
Europe and North America and their implications for the
international community with the aim to raise cultural awareness
and improve links'."
In 2007, things get interesting. An apparently unconnected
US-based lobby group known as the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC) set up a sister charity in the US - also known as
Atlantic Bridge.
Most of ALEC's website is currently down for maintenance, but
through the
magic of the wayback machine, we have been able to have a peek
anyway. A press release by ALEC on October 24, 2007, states
that
"Washington, DC-The American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC) is pleased to announce the launch of The
Atlantic Bridge Project as the latest component of its
International Relations Program. The project aims to foster
positive relationships between conservatives on both sides of the
Atlantic, so that they may further the ideals exemplified by Ronald
Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
ALEC is proud to launch this project in
conjunction with the Atlantic Bridge Group, a non-profit
organization chaired by the British Conservative Shadow Minister
for Defense, Liam Fox MP. The organization is supported by Lady
Thatcher and ALEC Alumni Congressman John Campbell who serves on
the Atlantic Bridge Advisory Board."
Even though the Atlantic Bridge Project (USA) and the Atlantic
Bridge Group (UK) were different organisations, it seems that they
subsequently operated extremely closely together, promoting links
between US and UK based conservatives, and paying for flights and
expenses for Liam Fox
and other
senior Tories to take trips across the Atlantic. Accounts for
2007 for Atlantic Bridge Group state that "The two entities have
been set up to mutually support each others aims".
It took the tenacious blogger Stephen
Newton to label Atlantic Bridge the "Tory Travel Club" and
chase it down over a two-year period - including making a complaint
to the Charity Commission. His
blog tale is well worth a read. The final result of this was in
July 2010, the
Charity Commmission ruled that the charity had been undertaking
overly political work - as it put it:
"Although it is legitimate for a charity
to study, research or educate the public about the 'Special
Relationship', it is not permissible for a charity to promote a
particular pre-determined point of view."
The ruling (removed from the Charity Commission's website but
obtainable from them on request) stated that "the Charity's current
activities must cease immediately" and that it needed to make a
"clear separation" from Atlantic Bridge Inc (set up by ALEC) in the
US.
ALEC are an interesting organisation. They have been
described by Greenpeace as a "Koch Industries Climate Denial
Front Group" - (make of that what you will) - with Greenpeace using
the US's more transparent funding reporting to detail a total of
$608,858 given by the Koch Foundation to ALEC between 1997 and
2009.
ALEC's PR work on environmental issues has been extensively
documented. They produced a short and accessible "Climate
Change Overview for State Legislators" document - essentially a
Q&A which systematically downplays the risks of climate change.
They lobbied against Kyoto, adopting a
model resolution for states to pass calling on the U.S.
government to reject the Kyoto Protocol and banning states from
regulating greenhouse gases. They are currently lobbying against
the US Environmental Protection Agency, having produced a booklet
entitled "
The EPA's Regulatory Train Wreck" with an accompanying policy summit and
campaigning website.
PRWatch has
extensively investigated ALEC's activities opposing action on
energy and climate change and there are two separate website - AlecExposed and
Alecwatch - dedicated to
tracking the organisation's activities, both of which accuse it of
acting as a front group for corporate lobbyists. Their
board of directors is heavily dominated by corporate
interests.
Accounts for 2007 for the the UK-based Atlantic Bridge Group,
which we have seen, demonstrate the close affiliation between the
US and UK based organisations. The accounts state that:
"In accordance with the special
relationship which the Atlantic Bridge promotes, Atlantic Bridge
Inc and the charity work together to carry out programme that allow
us to reach our annual goals. Because our donor base and event
audiences come from both the US and the UK, there is a need for two
separate organisations.
When events occur in America, expenses
are paid by the Atlantic Bridge Inc (US), run by Scott Syfert. If a
British citizen wishes to attend an event in the US, and prefers to
give a donation in GBP, the UK charity will accept the donations on
behalf of Atlantic Bridge Inc. The two entities have been set up to
mutually support each others aims".
Last week a map created by two US-based Sociologists of the US "
climate change denial machine" was attracting attention in the
blogosphere. No equivalent map exists for the UK - partly because
our Freedom of Information laws require less transparency on
funding streams.
The Guardian reported last week that Atlantic Bridge (UK) has
now been axed - and also rasied questions as to who was funding
the charity. Such questions - and those related to exactly how much
political influence US think tanks are able to wield in the UK -
are likely to continue.