The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies points out that Fake Letters to Congress Part of Campaign Against Climate Bill

A lobbying firm hired by a major coal industry group has mailed at least 13 fake letters to congressmen falsely claiming that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, senior citizens groups, and a Hispanic advocacy organization opposed a bill placing a cap on carbon emissions. Congressional investigators say that the firm working for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCE) sent out a total of 58 letters to congressmen, and that others may have been fraudulent as well. The lobbying firm, Bonner and Associates, says the letters were sent by a temporary employee, who has since been fired.

The impression I get from the story is that an industry can hire a lobby firm to hire interns to send fake letters of outrage. When caught, the interns are released and a new set hired to begin the process again.

Unless I’m missing something the lobby firms face few disincentives and no criminal charges will be filed. The good news is that while Congress has no efficient or reliable way to verify the authenticity of the letters, somehow the 13 were caught. Perhaps it came from a system of credibility, even an informal one. Why would the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, senior citizens groups and Creciendo Juntos, a Hispanic advocacy organization be siding with coal? The subject begs the question of authenticity and accountability.

Bonner and Associates, a firm that specializes in grassroots lobbying, was hired by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and by the Hawthorn Group, an Alexandria-based public affairs firm, as a subcontractor. Both companies have since denounced the company for the fake letters.

Denounced? For some strange reason I expected to see words like fired or terminated or pressed charges. A soft denouncement after serious misrepresentations of citizen identities? Is it just me or is this a good example of where the identity verification intentions of the Patriot Act should be applied?