Fake "Citizens Energy Group" stages rally in Greeley

Fort Collins, CO -- The American Petroleum Institute will stage a fake "citizens rally" in Greeley, Colorado on Tuesday, August 25th apparently to target U.S. Representative Betsy Markey for her vote supporting the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009, and also to target U.S. Senator Michael Bennet as he considers his upcoming vote in the U.S. Senate.

These fake rallies -- known as "astro-turfing" because they try to appear to be "grassroots" when in fact they are funded by international corporate profiteers -- have occurred in several U.S. cities. Under the guise of a "citizens rally", oil companies have bused large numbers of their employees and other non-local staffers around the U.S. over the last few weeks, targeting districts and states that may swing in the U.S. Senate vote and swing in the 2010 election.

These fake rallies have been widely exposed in the media, including on CNN here,
in the Guardian here, and here in the progressive blogosphere.

The fake rally in Greeley is the only Colorado event planned. A flyer advertising the fake rally is available for download here.

"The citizens of northern Colorado know better than to fall for this cynical ploy put on by corporate polluters and profiteers," said Gary Wockner, Colorado Program Director for Clean Water Action, "Northern Colorado has a highly educated citizenry that knows global warming is real and wants clean energy that will bring good jobs to our area."

Clean Water Action is a REAL grassroots organization based in Fort Collins whose community organizers have knocked on over 100,000 doors in northern Colorado over the last 12 months. Over the next 6 months, Clean Water Action will knock on every one of those doors again, in support of the American Clean Energy Security Act's passage in the U.S. Senate.

"We live here, we work here, we know northern Colorado," said Wockner. "While Big Oil has stacked up record profits, the real citizens of northern Colorado are losing jobs. Clean energy will bring good jobs that fight climate change. Northern Colorado needs green jobs, not fake rallies."

The fake rallies are operating under this oil company funded website: http://energycitizens.org/

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Clean Water Action has over 20,000 citizen members in northern Colorado.
http://cleanwater.org/