From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2014-11-03 10:44:09
They’re letting it “all hang out” and don’t really care. The mission to profit recklessly from environmental destruction is laid bare… The outrage created by “revelations” like this help to keep people from asking “Free energy, anyone?” and “war” intensifies… www.nytimes.com/2014… Hard-Nosed Advice From Veteran Lobbyist:‘Win Ugly or Lose Pretty’Richard Berman Energy Industry Talk Secretly TapedBy ERIC LIPTON OCT. 30, 2014WASHINGTON — If the oil and gas industry wants to prevent itsopponents from slowing its efforts to drill in more places, it must beprepared to employ tactics like digging up embarrassing tidbits aboutenvironmentalists and liberal celebrities, a veteran Washington politicalconsultant told a room full of industry executives in a speech that wassecretly recorded. The blunt advice from the consultant, Richard Berman, the founderand chief executive of the Washington-based Berman & Companyconsulting firm, came as Mr. Berman solicited up to $3 million from oiland gas industry executives to finance an advertising and public relationscampaign called Big Green Radicals. The company executives, Mr. Berman said in his speech, must bewilling to exploit emotions like fear, greed and anger and turn themagainst the environmental groups. And major corporations secretlyfinancing such a campaign should not worry about offending the generalpublic because “you can either win ugly or lose pretty,” he said.“Think of this as an endless war,” Mr. Berman told the crowd at theJune event in Colorado Springs, sponsored by the Western EnergyAlliance, a group whose members include Devon Energy, Halliburton andAnadarko Petroleum, which specialize in extracting oil and gas throughhydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. “And you have to budget forit. www.nytimes.com/2014…
