Yellowhammer has tried to be at the forefront of covering the ongoing efforts by wacko environmentalists to influence energy policy in the state of Alabama. Today, we have an update on two of the main cogs in the enviro machine — the Alabama Environmental Council and environmental activist Ben Raines.

Raines has for over a decade been an environmental “reporter” for the Mobile Press-Register and AL.com. In a recent Alabama Free Market Alliance post titled “Game plan for an environmental coup,” Raines was cited as a key player in the environmentalists’ anti-coal, anti-economic development efforts. “He has become the go-to mouthpiece for the environmentalist movement in Alabama,” the article stated.

Unsurprisingly, Raines announced earlier this week that he is leaving AL.com to join an enviro group as their executive director.

“After 14 years as the environment reporter for the Press-Register and now AL.com, I’ve just turned in my resignation,” Raines wrote on his Facebook page. “I have accepted a position as the new executive director of the Weeks Bay Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to protecting land and educating the public in coastal Alabama.”

Anyone who has read Raines’ skewed coverage of the Alabama Public Service Commission and economic development projects like the Northern Beltline won’t be surprised at Raines decision to officially join an enviro outfit.

And while Raines is transitioning into his new role, the Alabama Environmental Council (AEC) is making moves of their own.

Yellowhammer, the Alabama Policy Institute (API), and others have warned for several months about the dangers of radical environmentalist groups like the AEC hijacking the upcoming energy rates review process at the Alabama Public Service Commission.

In response to media criticism demanding conservatives connect the dots between the rate review process and environmentalist attacks on the coal industry, API’s Policy Director, Cameron Smith, wrote earlier this year that Alabamians need look no further than similar proceedings in Georgia.

“In filings during Georgia Power’s most recent rate case, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, funded by the liberal San Francisco-based Energy Foundation, stated that the rate case was the correct forum to consider ‘coal unit retirements,’ legalese for shutting down coal-powered energy production,” Smith wrote. Georgia Power ultimately had to close 15 coal- and oil-fired units, accounting for about 20% of the electrical capacity of its power grid.

This week, the Alabama Environmental Council, which is also funded by the aforementioned Energy Foundation, made it clear that they will be seeking a seat at the table during the Public Service Commission’s upcoming rate hearings for Alabama Power.

AEC Executive Director Michael Churchman says that a transition to “renewable” energy is the path for which his organization plans to advocate.

We’ll continue keeping a close watch on the process as it plays out. Alabama Power’s rate review hearing begin May 8.

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