In an October 17 article about a study projecting economic benefits from natural gas drilling on the Roan Plateau, The Denver Post referred to the sponsor of the study, Americans for American Energy (AAE), as “an energy-advocacy group.” However, an August 16 Post article about “Colorado oil and gas producers [] organizing to influence government policy in reaction to concerns about a perceived anti-energy bias in the state” identified AAE as "[a] new organization to advocate for increased energy development and less regulation." Further, reporting May 29 on AAE's involvement in an energy development campaign funded by the state of Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News (accessed through the Nexis database) called AAE “an empty front, set up by a political ad agency” rather than the “grassroots-based group” it had described itself as.

From the October 17 Post article “Roan gas could be state windfall: Natural-gas drilling in the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserves could bring Colorado $1.2 billion in a year, the report says,” by Margaret Jackson:

Colorado could gain up to $1.2 billion in revenue during the first year of a federal plan to allow natural-gas drilling in the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserves on the Roan Plateau, according to a study to be released today.

Colorado's share is about half of the $2.4 billion the federal government is expected to get during the first year the NOSR is leased for about $46,000 an acre.

The state also stands to collect up to $6 billion in royalties and production taxes over 30 years under a plan to open up about 52,000 acres of the 70,000- acre Naval Oil Shale Reserves for development, according to the study.

The state also stands to benefit from the economic impact of more than $11 billion in industry investment over the life of the project, says the study conducted by industry experts for Americans for American Energy, an energy-advocacy group.

The group's president and chief executive, Greg Schnacke, declined to identify the experts who conducted the study because they may bid on leases that will allow them to harvest natural gas from the NOSR lands.

As the Rocky Mountain News reported in an August 3 article headlined “Energy lobby marshals forces: Oil, gas drillers preparing to fight for rights on Roan,” before assuming his position at AAE, Schnacke was executive director of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, which is the main lobbying organization for Colorado's oil and gas producers.

The News further reported that AAE “has raised tens of thousands of dollars to launch a campaign in the coming weeks to push for drilling on the Roan” and at one point recruited Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman as its chairman:

A newly formed nonprofit in Denver, Americans for American Energy, has raised tens of thousands of dollars to launch a campaign in the coming weeks to push for drilling on the Roan, also known as U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserves. But the group is experiencing teething pains.

Coffman had accepted an offer to chair the AAE board about two months ago but backed out Thursday afternoon -- less than an hour after inquiries from the Rocky Mountain News.

He has been replaced by Bill Vasey, a Democratic state senator from Wyoming, said Jim Sims of Policy Communications, a Golden-based lobbying firm that will provide AAE with staffing.

“AAE is going to make the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserves a national symbol of American energy independence,” Sims said. “If America can't harvest clean-burning natural gas from the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserves, than where the hell can it harvest it?”

Sims said Greg Schnacke, executive director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, will help lead the campaign. Schnacke will join AAE as soon as the association finds a replacement, likely in a month or so.

The campaign will include rallies, television and radio advertisements, and other outreach and education efforts, Sims said.

As a September 13 Associated Press article reported, AAE's founder, Jim Sims, “is the former director of communications for President Bush's National Energy Policy Task Force,” which was embroiled in controversy over Vice President Dick Cheney's refusal to disclose details relating to the role oil and gas industry figures played in the task force.

In addition, Wyoming's Casper Star-Tribune reported September 13 that AAE itself sparked a controversy when it falsely claimed that Gov. David Freudenthal (D) supported its agenda. According to the article, Freudenthal had earlier supported the organization's professed educational goals, but later “disagreed with the notion that the main goal of the organization is to educate the public on energy matters”:

Sims told the Star-Tribune that Americans for American Energy unabashedly supports more development of domestic energy resources. It only goofed when it implied Freudenthal's support and without his knowledge.

“In fact, Governor Freudenthal has been increasingly concerned about how and where oil and gas production (has) been occurring in some places in Wyoming,” Sims wrote to the Star-Tribune.

Freudenthal disagreed with the notion that the main goal of the organization is to educate the public on energy matters.

“The September 10th communication from AAE President Greg Schnacke to unspecified recipients contains a description of initiatives which I wholeheartedly disagree with on a number of levels,” Freudenthal wrote in his letter to Sims. “First, I was not consulted on these initiatives, which are in no way connected to the public education efforts which were the basis of my earlier support for the organization.”

Similar to the Anchorage Daily News, the Star-Tribune noted concerns that AAE is merely a front organization for the energy development industry:

Sheldon Rampton, research director for Center for Media & Democracy, said Americans for American Energy appears to be a “front group” for corporations that wish reshape the issue of balancing energy development and the environment.

“One thing that strikes me is their Web site goes so far as to say, quite unambiguously, is the people who oppose the exploitation of oil shale are in league with terrorists,” Rampton said. “It's a very intentional campaign to reframe environmental issues to the war on terror.”

John Vanvig, organizer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, said there's absolutely nothing wrong with a group lobbying for public policy. But it is unsavory for a group to misrepresent its true intentions.

“It sounds to me like Sims and Schnacke hope to get Americans, and Westerners in particular, to believe that more Powder River Basin coal and coal-bed methane will mean less oil imports from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela,” Vanvig said. “And they plan to form 'mini-coalitions' like 'Wyoming Educators for American Energy' to help them pull this wool over everyone's eyes.”