Caribou in ANWR (photo: Ken Whitten, Sierra Club)

The Governor of Alaska is seeking bids from lobbying firms for a one-year $120,000 contract to lobby the U.S. Congress to allow "responsible oil and gas development" in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). PR Week reports that the selected firm would also lobby on natural gas transportation issues, with the winning bidder eligible for "up to five one-year contract renewals at the same price." One of the requirements is that bidders have experience lobbying on oil, gas or other natural resource development issues. In May 2006, the Alaskan government signed a $3 million PR contract with the Oregon-based PR firm Pac/West Communications, for a campaign promoting oil exploration in ANWR. The government allocated an additional $750,000 for a separate lobbying contract.

In an interview with LobbyWatch, British journalist George Monbiot reviews the network of the key players from Living Marxism. One of its offshoots is Spiked Online, which has hosted numerous debates sponsored by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton and more recently Clarke Mulder Purdie. Key individuals are also involved in other groups such as the Science Media Centre (SMC), the Institute of Ideas and Sense About Science. What they have in common, Monbiot argues, is masking their pro-corporate libertarianism with rhetorical support for science. In a submission to the Board of the SMC, Andy Rowell from SpinWatch notes that, despite climate change sceptics attacking the science behind global warming analyses, SMC has been comparatively silent. "Of the 120 odd press releases the SMC has issued ... only about four have been on climate," he wrote.

Jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff (graphic from the Village Voice)

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) "seized on the recent FBI raids of the businesses of the wives of Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), both of whom are under investigation for linking legislative favors to personal profits through side businesses, as a continuing reason to push for" ethics reforms, reports Paul Kane. "But, four months into their reign, Democrats have yet to change any laws governing how lobbyists ply their trade or place any new limits or the revolving door for members and staff." A House bill is expected soon, but Representatives are reluctant to require "disclosure by public relations firms of grassroots efforts at lobbying that doesn't involve direct contact with Congress and therefore isn't currently disclosed." Other difficult reforms for Democrats include revealing bundled donations from lobbyists and extending the "cooling-off period" that members and senior staff must wait before lobbying former colleagues.

"Fearing increased oversight from the newly elected Democratic-controlled Congress, the Coalition for Government Procurement (CGP), a trade group representing government product and service suppliers, is planning a PR and marketing campaign to promote its members as responsible companies and not stereotypical 'corporate evildoers,'" reports Ted McKenna. The CGP is also forming a new group, the Council on Responsible Contracting (CORC). In a letter recruiting members for CORC, CGP's Larry Allen warned, "The new Congress will look upon contractors with the sort of contempt usually reserved for those who steal candy from babies." The campaign will focus on members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, Defense Department and "other government customers," as well as "executive branch officials." The campaign "could have a budget of at least $250,000," according to Allen. "No PR firm is yet attached to the effort, though Qorvis Communications late last year arranged a conference call for coalition members to discuss the benefits of a PR campaign."

A faux environmental ad campaign is ending. The ads "featured a series of somber models with smudged faces peering over a headline that said 'Face It, Coal is Filthy.' The ads ran in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and several newspapers serving Capitol Hill, as well as on local buses and in the subway system," reports John Fialka. The ads were placed by the "Clean Sky Coalition," which "was set up by the chairman of Chesapeake Energy Corp., an Oklahoma City natural-gas-production company." Some ads claimed that Environmental Defense and the Sierra Club had "joined" the coalition -- a claim that both environmental groups deny. Chesapeake Chair Aubrey McClendon said the coalition had other members, but wouldn't name them. He defended the ad campaign as part of "the American way for a company to try to increase their market share." The ads were produced by Strategic Perception, a Hollywood advertising firm that lists California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush among their past clients.

Global warming skeptic William Gray, from the TCS Daily VNR

A White House "personnel announcement" states: "The President intends to nominate James K. Glassman, of Connecticut, to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, for the remainder of a three-year term expiring 8/13/07 and an additional three-year term expiring 8/13/10." President Bush will also nominate Glassman to be BBG Chair. Glassman is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank, the author of the wildly inaccurate book "Dow 36000," and the founder of Tech Central Station (TCS), a corporate-sponsored news and opinion site published by the Republican-associated lobbying firm DCI Group until last year. TCS has been accused of "journo-lobbying" or online fake news, for its tendency to not fully disclose its corporate sponsors (which often have a direct financial stake in the issues covered on the site). TCS also runs "TCS Daily," which received significant funding from ExxonMobil and paid for a video news release denying the evidence that global warming is causing more severe hurricane seasons. If confirmed by the Senate, Glassman would replace controversial BBG Chair Kenneth Tomlinson.