A clean-coal association on whose behalf forged letters were sent to congressmen is launching a review to determine how the letters were sent, and to put practices in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Joe Lucas, senior vice president for communications at the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said the team reviewing the matter will include senior association staff members, representatives of member companies, and partner Jeffrey Tenenbaum of Venable, the association's longtime lawyer.
Tenenbaum could not immediately be reached for comment.
"We will be looking at our existing standards and practices, and they are applied to all of our grass-roots, and even all of our communications activities," Lucas said.
So far, the pro-coal association has acknowledged a dozen forged letters that appeared to come from organizations weighing in on a climate change bill. Bonner and Associates, a lobbying firm that sent the letters, has said they were sent by a temporary employee who has since been fired.
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, sent a letter to the clean-coal association Wednesday asking for more information about its relationship with Hawthorn Group, the firm that subcontracted work to Bonner and Associates, including when it found out about the forged letters.
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