Industry Seeking Rewards From G.O.P.-Led Congress

A few weeks ago, officials of the American Petroleum Institute met in Denver to discuss their chief goal for the new Congress: an energy bill that would open up public lands in the Rocky Mountain West to further oil and gas exploration.

At that meeting, the oil executives decided among other things to undertake a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to convince voters in five Western states that new exploration in the Rockies would bolster their local economies while inflicting minimal damage on the environment. The campaign is timed to start early in the new year, just as Congress convenes with Republicans in control of both houses and eager to take up an energy bill.
[more]