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“When people do not get all of the information, or information is too technical, they begin to fill in the holes with what they can imagine,” he said in one of the early presentation slides. “The perceived risk, even if it isn’t a reality, makes hydraulic fracturing an emotional issue.”<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798411-Gerry-Baker-on-Fracking-and-PR.html#document/p3/a288273 "Reaching Out to a Broad Audience"], Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and FracFocus, October 17, 2011, accessed April 2016</ref>
The IOGCC, furthermore, has a tight-knit relationship with the industry-funded [[front group]], public relations tool and lobbying group, [[Consumer Energy Alliance]] (CEA). CEA is an important part of the IOGCC’s 2013-launched [[States First Initiative]], where they are listed as the only “ally.”<ref>[http://www.statesfirstinitiative.org/#!allies/czie States First Initiative "Allies"], accessed April 2016</ref> An August 2014 version of the website has an "allies" section but no colleagues listed.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20140829010000/http://www.statesfirstinitiative.org/#!allies/czie States First Initiative "Allies"], Way Back Machine, accessed April 2016</ref> CEA also wrote a “letter of support” for States First in March 2014.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798420-States-First-Governors-Letter.html States First Initiative Governors' Letter]</ref>
In 2005, per a vote from its Public Outreach Committee, IOGCC published an107-page "Communications Resource Guide."<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798412-IOGCC-Communications-Resource-Guide.html#document/p2/a288274 IOGCC "Communications Resource Guide"]</ref>
"The development and dissemination of data and knowledge is essential to cultivating an understanding and appreciation of the energy challenges facing our states and nations," reads the Guide. "Today, many groups nationwide cite public image as a major barrier inhibiting the responsible recovery of American oil and natural gas resources. We have a rare opportunity to re-position ourselves from the largely defensive posture of the past quarter century, into a positive, proactive, forward-looking force."<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798412-IOGCC-Communications-Resource-Guide.html#document/p2/a288274 IOGCC "Communications Resource Guide"]</ref>
At its May 2016 business meeting in Denver, Colorado, IOGCC has two separate three-hour sessions slated for [[crisis communications]] trainings.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798900-2016-IOGCC-Business-Meeeting-Agenda.html 2016 IOGCC Annual Business Meeting], Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, accessed April 2016</ref> Both of those sessions will be led by former journalists turned industry PR professionals: Todd Hartman, communications director for the Colorado Department of Conservation<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798900-2016-IOGCC-Business-Meeeting-Agenda.html#document/p1/a288330 2016 IOGCC Annual Business Meeting], Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, accessed April 2016</ref> and Karen Crummy, communications director for [[fracking]] [[front groups ]] Protect Colorado and Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED).<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798900-2016-IOGCC-Business-Meeeting-Agenda.html#document/p2/a288331 2016 IOGCC Annual Business Meeting], Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, accessed April 2016</ref> Hartman formerly reported for the Rocky Mountain News, The Gazette of Colorado Springs, The Miami Herald, while Crummy was a political and then investigative reporter for The Denver Post.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798954-Todd-Hartman-LinkedIn.html Todd Hartman, LinkedIn] accessed April 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798955-Karen-Crummy-LinkedIn.html Karen Crummy, LinkedIn], accessed April 2016</ref>
A month after Crummy began working at CRED, the [[Noble Energy]] and [[Anadarko Petroleum]] funded<ref>[http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/inside-energy-colorado-ground-zero-political-wars-over-fracking "INSIDE ENERGY: Colorado Ground Zero For Political Wars Over Fracking"] Dan Boyce, Wyoming Public Radio, June 11, 2014, accessed April 2016</ref> [[front group]] paid for a sponsored content full "energy and environment" section that ran both online and in the print edition of The Denver Post, which its energy reporter pointed to as being "faux" on Twitter and which one anonymous former Denver Post reporter told the publication [[ThinkProgress]] “If I weren’t a journalist, I’m not sure I could tell the difference here...“I go back to the way in which non-editorial material used to be identified in printed pages of the newspaper — that was different type fonts, different look, everything different so that you know that it’s advertising. Clearly, that’s not done here.””<ref>[http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/16/3425969/denver-post-sponsored-content/ "The Denver Post’s ‘Energy And Environment’ Section Is Produced By The Oil And Gas Industry"], Katie Valentine, ThinkProgress, April 16, 2014, accessed April 2016</ref>
According to documents filed with the Colorado state government, Protect Colorado raised a total of $ in 2015 from companies ranging from [[Anadarko Petroleum]], [[ConocoPhillips]], <ref>[https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/CampaignFinance/Filings/Schedules/ViewContributionSchedule.aspx?FilingID=191498 July 15, 2015 - Report of Contributions and Expenditures for "Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence"], Colorado Secretary of State Campaign Finance Database, accessed April 2016</ref><ref>[https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/CampaignFinance/Filings/Schedules/ViewContributionSchedule.aspx?FilingID=191497 April 15, 2015 - Report of Contributions and Expenditures for "Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence"], Colorado Secretary of State Campaign Finance Database, accessed April 2016</ref><ref>[https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/CampaignFinance/Filings/Schedules/ViewContributionSchedule.aspx?FilingID=191500 January 15, 2016 - Report of Contributions and Expenditures for "Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence"], Colorado Secretary of State Campaign Finance Database, accessed April 2016</ref><ref>[https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/CampaignFinance/Filings/Schedules/ViewContributionSchedule.aspx?FilingID=191499 October 15, 2015 - Report of Contributions and Expenditures for "Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence"], Colorado Secretary of State Campaign Finance Database, accessed April 2016</ref>
==Baker Calls 911 on Reporter==
In a February 26, 2009 hearing on the Utah version of the model resolution appearing as a “member of the public,” (starting at 33:25) Utah’s IOGCC representative John Baza cited the IOGCC as the progenitor of the bill and said the Utah version and the IOGCC version “pretty much mirror each other,”<ref>[http://utahlegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=13777&meta_id=507263 House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Standing Committee Meeting], Utah State Legislature, February 26, 2009</ref> also saying there was no evidence of groundwater contamination from fracking. He spoke similarly as a member of the “public” at a February 13 hearing (starting at 4:50) in support of the bill's passage, saying the two resolutions are “essentially mirrors” and fracking can be done without “harm to groundwater situations.”<ref>[http://utahlegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=13882&meta_id=506976 Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Standing Committee Meeting], Utah State Legislature, February 13, 2009</ref>
By the middle of that year, it appears IOGCC was working in close coordination with the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), creator of [[fracking]] [[front group ]] [[Energy in Depth]]. EID got off the ground in June 2009 by publishing a document titled, “Hydraulic Fracturing Under Attack.” IOGCC is cited as a key vehicle for fighting back in the memo.<ref>[http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/HFUnderFire.pdf "Hydraulic Fracturing Under Attack"], Independent Petroleum Association of America, June 5, 2009, accessed April 2016</ref>
Five days after IPAA published “Hydraulic Fracturing Under Attack,” IOGCC unveiled its own press release with a similar tenor on June 10, titling it “States Challenge Attempted Federal Power Grab in Hydraulic Fracturing Issue” in reaction to the introduction of the FRAC Act.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798752-IOGCC-States-Challenge-Attempted-Federal-Power.html "States Challenge Attempted Federal Power Grab in Hydraulic Fracturing Issue"], Erica Carr, Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission June 10, 2005</ref> [[Energy in Depth]] cross-posted the press release on its website the next day.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2798751-EID-States-Challenge-Attempted-Federal-Power.html "States Challenge Attempted Federal Power Grab in Hydraulic Fracturing Issue"] Shannon Brushe, Energy in Depth, June 11, 2005</ref>
