After a Washington Post article detailed the oil industry funding behind the National Black Chamber of Commerce's (NBCC) anti-environmental agenda, NBCC president Harry Alford baselessly claimed the Post report contained "[l]ies, innuendos and false claims." Now, Alford is attributing the Post article to owner Jeff Bezos, who Alford calls “an avid Climate Change activist with a hatred for traditional energy companies.”

On September 28, The Post reported on the NBCC's heavy oil industry funding, prompting Alford to declare that the article was “misinformation” fed to the Post by “super liberals.” Alford did not identify any specific errors in the Post article.

Alford returned to bashing the Post in a February 1 column on his organization's website, which was republished on February 12 in the Philadelphia Tribune and Nashville Pride and on February 18 in the Chattanooga Courier, according to Nexis. In the column, Alford wrote that his organization previously had “a pretty good relationship” with the Post, but the newspaper “turned on me personally” when “avid Climate Change activist” Jeff Bezos purchased it: 

My organization had a pretty good relationship with the Washington Post. But suddenly this major publication turned on me personally. While I was in Paris on some important business meetings, a bombshell hit us. There was a very derogatory article about me, Harry C. Alford, and the NBCC. It claimed we have sinisterly teamed with fossil fuels companies to destroy our land, kill the children and spread blight throughout the entire world. It was on the front page, in bold print above the first fold. What brought this change? Why was it so vicious? The answer was this. Multi - billionaire Jeff Bezos had just bought the Post and is an avid Climate Change activist with a hatred for traditional energy companies. He also owns Amazon.com.

In addition to attacking the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plan to reduce smog, which was the focus of the Post article, the NBCC has waged a misleading campaign against the EPA's plan to fight climate change by reducing carbon pollution from power plants. Both NBCC campaigns claim that the EPA policies would harm minorities, but in reality, minority communities have the most to gain from these environmental protections.

Alford is listed as a columnist at the National Newspapers Publishers Association, a trade association of the more than 200 African American-owned community newspapers from around the United States.

Related:

How The Polluter-Backed National Black Chamber Misleads Minorities

Previously:

National Black Chamber Of Commerce Joins Oil Industry's Op-Ed Campaign Against EPA Climate Plan

Wash. Post Details Anti-Environment Agenda Of Oil-Funded National Black Chamber Of Commerce

Nat'l Black Chamber President Smears Wash. Post For Exposing Industry-Funded Pro-Smog Campaign