As Mentioned 

Offshore wind energy in New England is threatened not by the physical dangers of broken turbine blades, but by the public opinion of a nascent industry. Brown's CDL is quoted in this article by the Rhode Island Current.

Josh Axelrod shares the CDL's findings on politically conservative groups funding anti-wind rhetoric. There is still more research to be done on potential harm, but there have been zero whale deaths linked to offshore wind since construction began.

CDL's researchers shed light on conflicts of interest preventing Colorado from cleaning their air pollution. Trevor Culhane told reporters: "lobbying is all about relationships — and it can be hard to tease out those intermingled interests even when so-called firewalls between clients are in place."

Trevor Culhane and J. Timmons Roberts spoke with Inside Climate News about how them and their "denial detectives" uncover relationships among lobbyists, and provide more transparency with the CDL's HowDoTheyLobby site.

An article from WBUR on the CDL's report highlights the relationships we are seeing between whale advocacy groups and the fossil fuel-generated anti-wind funding.

Timmons Roberts told The Guardian that a new database of fossil fuel lobbyists "really makes it apparent that when you hire these insider lobbyists, you are basically working with double agents. ... The information you share with them is probably going to the opposition.”

The Washington Post's Technology 202 newsletter references a report by CDL alum Cole Triedman, which argues that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a "central actor" in dissuading climate legislation over a two-decade period.

Timmons Roberts told The Guardian how whale advocates "are becoming unwitting pawns of the fossil fuel industry" as they and rightwing think tanks create the impression that offshore wind energy projects endanger cetaceans.

Timmons Roberts spoke to The Guardian about the empty promises of Big Oil climate pledges, saying that these commitments "were almost certainly made to give the impression that [oil companies] don’t need to be regulated because their voluntary pledges are adequate."

Robert Brulle also talked to The Guardian about fossil fuel lobbyists' competing interests, saying, "Lobbyists will take money from anybody. The question is: are they really working in your best interest … if they’re also representing an opponent?"

This article from the Energy News Network offers continued coverage of the CDL's Power Play report and Jared Heern's recent study examining the professional backgrounds of over 800 public utility commissioners.

In an interview for the Energy Nerd Show, Timmons Roberts called upon CDL research to emphasize the importance of public utility commissions.

The New Republic offered continued coverage of Jared Heern's new study, which looked at the bios of 818 public utility commissioners serving in all 50 states from 2000-2020 and found that 25% had worked in the fossil fuel or utility industries, compared to 19% with a background in environmental regulation.

The CDL’s Jared Heern recently published a study examining the professional backgrounds of the 818 utility commissioners who served across all 50 states between 2000 and 2020. He found that 25% of those commissioners had previously worked in the utility or fossil fuel industry, compared to 19% with an environmental background. Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

This column from ecoRI News highlights the climate obstruction research of Timmons Roberts, Robert Brulle, and the CDL as a whole. "We wanted to find what are the forces that are driving inaction, not just inaction, but corrosive counteractions, really rabid anti-climate action in the United States," Roberts said of the team's work.

Timmons Roberts spoke in favor of the Revolution Wind project, a proposed offshore wind farm that would provide renewable energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut: "We have to act. We have an awesome resource right here.”

Robert Brull eco-authored a guest blog for GreenBuildingAdvisor.com that explores the oil and gas sector’s major spending on advertising, lobbying, and political contributions. This matters, Brulle says, “not just because of the enormous sums the [industry] groups are spending, but also because they often act as a command center for political campaigns to kill pro-climate policies.”

Robert Brulle offered commentary for Inside Climate News, which reported that conservative leaders want to reinvent the Republican party’s climate image — but that a small group of far-right politicians is resisting common ground.

EcoRI News reports on a CDL study which found that Green Oceans, a local citizens group that lobbies against offshore wind projects, uses disinformation tactics taken directly from national climate change denial organizations and obstructionists funded by the fossil fuel industry. Timmons Roberts commented, “It is important for people to have their own perspective about whether they want energy infrastructure in their neighborhoods, but they don’t get to make up their own facts.”

Timmons Roberts provided commentary for ecoRI News on the systemic blocking of renewable energy efforts. “These are usually people with a lot of social capital,” Roberts said of groups that block renewable energy efforts. “On issue after issue, many have no scientific background whatsoever. They are raising fear and hysteria.”

This article from GreenBiz.com calls the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a “central force” in blocking climate policy and cites a 2021 study by CDL alum Cole Triedman. The study states that the trade association has been a “powerful force in obstructing climate action.”

Robert Brulle co-authored this essay for The Conversation about the political activities of energy industry groups, noting that Big Oil’s trade group allies outspent clean energy groups by 27 times. Billions of these dollars went to ads and lobbying in favor of fossil fuels.

Robert Brulle spoke to Grist about a new book distributed by the Heartland Institute to 8,000 middle and high school teachers, saying, "The 1990s called. They want their scientific misinformation back."

Robert Brulle spoke to The Guardian about research showing that scientists at Exxon were ‘uncannily accurate’ in their climate change modeling since the 1970s. These findings support ongoing efforts to hold Exxon and other fossil fuel companies accountable for deliberate climate misinformation.

Robert Brulle co-authored a study examining the political spending of nearly 90 U.S. trade associations over 10 years, and found that these organizations spent $3.4 billion on climate-related political activities. But the money didn't go towards lobbying or campaigns, NationofChange reports — it went to advertising and promotion.

In October 2022, CDL alum Celia Hack wrote an article for KMUW about Wichita's K-96 Fishing Lake, which is directly north of a toxic site contaminated by a large chemical spill. The Kansas Press Association recently awarded the article first place for Story Originating from a Public Notice.