Our ears are burning - The Sierra Club Bulletin News For Members

When confronted by accusations that energy companies like Enron unduly influenced the Bush administration's energy policy, the White House PR machine tried to hide behind the nearest environmentalist:

"The president thinks that access should be across the board, and that's why the Sierra Club ... met repeatedly with the energy task force."

--White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer, January 22, 2002

"There are also a dozen recommendations in [the Bush energy policy] that the Sierra Club also supports. Does that mean that the Sierra Club put our plan together? No. It's right out there for everybody to see."

--Vice-presidential advisor Mary Matalin on CBS's The Early Show, January 21, 2002

In fact, Sierra Club representatives never met with the energy task force while it was crafting its industry-friendly plan. (We did meet twice with Bush administration officials from the group--after the plan was released.) Vice President Cheney and his staff met six times with Enron officials, including then-CEO Kenneth Lay, while the plan was being drafted.

* To learn more about the Bush-Cheney energy plan (including a point-by-point rebuttal of the administration's claims of Sierra Club support), visit www.sierraclub.org/energy/bush_plan.>