CEA no advocate for environmental protection

Jim Kotcon, West Virginia Sierra Club, Morgantown
I am concerned about the EarthWatch article that appeared in Monday’s edition of the newspaper — “Group gets signatures in support of energy pledge.”
The group referred to is the so-called Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA). While one might think this group advocates for consumers, it is actually a front group for dirty-energy companies that advocates for off-shore oil drilling and foreign tar sands development and against environmental protections for the energy industry. The primary funders include Exxon, Shell and the Norwegian company Statoil.
Certainly, these groups have the right to support their industry, and to lobby political candidates. But by placing the story in the EarthWatch section, readers may be misled into believing that the CEA and the candidates listed are advocating environmental protection, and that simply is not true.
I urge the editor to review sources more carefully and to accurately report the source of that information.