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Greenwashing update: Meet the new "Green" & "Clean" fuel source. [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-09

From David Sirota’s LeverNews: www.levernews.com/… and ExxonKnews , a reporting project covering the fossil fuel industry and climate accountability.

Coming soon to a statehouse near you, if it’s not already there yet, model legislation, written by of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), a conservative lobbying organization, largely funded by corporate America. ALEC has a reputation for pro-corporate model legislation to legislators, including, but not limited to, obstructing climate action, blacklisting companies the boycott fossil fuels and criminalizing protests of fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

ALEC has written model legislation for states to pass that rebrands methane as a ‘clean and green’ energy source in order to stymie efforts at the state and local level to transition to actual clean and green energy sources.

A version of the methane gas rebranding bill first passed in Ohio in 2023 after it was floated by The Empowerment Alliance, a dark money gas advocacy group helmed by Trump megadonor and former gas industry executive couple Tom Rastin and Karen Buchwald Wright. According to documents obtained by the watchdog Energy and Policy Institute and first reported by the Washington Post, The Empowerment Alliance worked with Ohio state legislators on the idea, while ALEC provided a model bill and talking points for officials. ALEC denied its involvement in Ohio’s law after the Washington Post published its story. But last summer, ALEC posted a markedly similar model bill on its website. The model bill, titled “The Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy Security Act,” states that “Green energy’ will be redefined as meaning any energy generated by using an energy resource in which the emissions are equivalent to the standard set by pipeline-quality natural gas, (e.g. those emitted by residential gas stoves).”

Since the model legislation was published, several states have taken up the cause, including Indiana , Tennessee , Mississippi , and Louisiana — have introduced similar legislation declaring gas a “clean” or “green” source of energy. Indiana and Tennessee have both have enacted legislation declaring methane as a “green energy source”, while Mississippi’s legislation died in committee. Louisiana’s legislation lifted language directly from the model bill and passed the state House of Representatives on June 2nd and is awaiting action in their Senate.

The Empowerment Alliance promotes the proliferation of ALEC’s model bill on its website . “We define American natural gas as green and clean energy,” the site reads. “We encourage all 50 states to pass legislation using the ARC Energy Security model as a starting point to unleash energy prosperity for every household and business.” Other allied fossil fuel-funded think tanks, like the Heartland Institute and the Institute for Energy Research , have also backed the model legislation.

The passage of state legislation is designed to thwart efforts by cities and counties to mandate the transition to wind and solar power, although some some states and localities include nuclear power, and other energy sources, not typically thought of as ‘green’. ALEC’s legislation would mandate the inclusion of methane as a ‘clean and renewable’ source of energy.

Effectively, the law could prevent municipalities in the state with renewable-energy requirements — like Nashville, which has committed to using 100 percent renewable energy by 2041 — from excluding gas in its efforts.

Note: Note: ExxonKnews is a reporting project of the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), an advocacy group that provides research and tools to help communities hold oil and gas corporations accountable.

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