Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Front groups badge.png

This article is part of the Center for Media & Democracy's spotlight on front groups and corporate spin.

The Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy is a fossil fuel advocacy organization. The group opposes environmental activism and the pursuit of "green," or sustainable energy development, saying the pursuit of solar and wind power "will end the America we know and love." The group refers to sustainable energy advocates as "Gang Green." The group's Web site contains a quote by Fred L. Smith, Jr., president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in which he claims that environmental activists are seeking to undermine American sovereignty and advance a "global wealth transfer scheme":

We can say this for environmental activists-- they are persistent, constantly developing collectivist schemes to increase the size and scope of government. And they are becoming more ambitious. Not content with giving more power to Uncle Sam, they now seek to give greater power to the United Nations, a move that would seriously undermine American sovereignty and pave the way for top-down global wealth transfer schemes that would make the Great Society look small. [1]


The group was founded by Mark E. Mathis, its executive director, a former TV anchor, a radio talk show host and a consultant to the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico. A disclosure statement with an opinion column stated that "Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy is funded by more than 250 members including New Mexico oil and gas producers."[2]

The Executive Director of the Citizens Alliance is Marita Noon, who, before joining the Alliance was known nation-wide as a popular Christian speaker. For the previous thirty years, Ms. Noon was in the business of training Christian speakers.[3]

On its website, CARE states that it is "devoted to educating the public about the need to guarantee our access to the affordable energy that drives our nation forward."[4] A june 2008 blog post stated that veteran anti-environmentalist Ron Arnold had been "an integral part of CARE’s founding."[5]

In March 2006 Mathis was a co-signatory on a letter, initiated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in support of an expansion of oil drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.[6]

Funding

In its 2005 annual return, CARE reported that it had total revenue of $184,815. Of this Mark Mathais was paid $59,580.[7] The following year CARE's income dropped marginally to $160,163 but Mathais's renumeration had climbed to $74,063.[8]

Contact Information

Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy
8300 Carmel Avenue, Bldg. 601, Suite Ey
Albuquerque, NM 87122
Email: mark AT responsiblenergy.org
Phone: 505-798-6961
Fax: 505-857-9774
Web: http://responsiblenergy.org/

Staff and Board

Articles and Resources

Sources

  1. Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy Smashing Watermelons, organizational Web site, accessed August 7, 2010
  2. Mark Mathis, "Richardson Should Do a 180 on Energy Plan", Albuquerque Journal, October 19, 2005.
  3. Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy About Us, organizational web site, accessed August 7, 2010
  4. "Welcome to CARE", accessed June 2008.
  5. Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy, "Memo to Senator Bingaman: Start Drilling!", June 18, 2008.
  6. Fred Smith, President and Myron Ebell, "National Organizations Rally for ANWR", Competitive Enterprise Institute, March 8, 2006.
  7. Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy, 2005 Annual Return, pages 1 & 5.
  8. 2006 Annual Return, pages 1 & 5.
  9. Submission to the Senate Energy Committee, undated, accessed June 2008.

External links