Conservative Nonprofit ALEC Mulls Suits Over Climate Claims

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a Republican-dominated association of state lawmakers, is threatening legal action against activists organizations that accuse it of climate-change denial, The Washington Post reports. Attorneys for ALEC, as the lawmakers’ group is known, have sent letters to Common Cause and the League of Conservation Voters demanding that they “cease making false statements” about the council’s views on global warming.

The advocacy groups refused, saying ALEC’s public statements and legislative stands on climate issues and policy proposals support their claims. The council has seen an exodus of corporate sponsors, among them Google, Facebook, and BP, as environmental activists pressured companies to cut ties with the conservative nonprofit. Google linked its decision to stop funding ALEC to climate issues. ALEC officials say that the council, under new leadership, does not deny climate change and welcomes debate on measures to tackle it.