Here’s more evidence that the “Energy Citizens” rallies against climate legislation are anything but grassroots uprisings.  We already knew that the American Petroleum Institute was behind the whole idea.  Now it turns out that even the local organizers of individual rallies are oil-industry lobbyists. 

Grist obtained a copy of API’s list of coordinators for the 21 planned rallies, and 15 of them are registered lobbyists, mostly for API or its state-level affiliates.

There have already been three “Energy Citizens” rallies — in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday; in Roswell, N.M., on Thursday; and in Lima, Ohio, on Friday. Others are planned for cities around the U.S. during the rest of the August congressional recess.

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Here’s a list of the lobbyists organizing the “grassroots” rallies:

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  • Greensboro, N.C., rally organizer Bill Weatherspoon is a registered lobbyist for API in North Carolina.
  • Lima, Ohio, organizer Terry Fleming is a registered lobbyist for the Ohio Petroleum Council.
  • Atlanta, Ga., organizer Ric Cobb is a registerd lobbyist for the Georgia Petroleum Council.
  • Elkhart, Ind., organizer Maggie McShane lobbies on behalf of the Indiana Petroleum Council.
  • Nashville, Tenn., organizer Mike Williams is a registered lobbyist for API.
  • Bismarck, N.D., organizer Ron Ness is a former registered lobbyist for the North Dakota Petroleum Council.
  • Tampa, Fla., organizer David Mica registered lobbyist for the Florida Petroleum Council.
  • St. Louis, Mo., organizer Ryan Rowden is a registered lobbyist for the Missouri Petroleum Council.
  • Greenville, S.C., organizer Kay Clamp is a registered lobbyist for the South Carolina Petroleum Council.
  • Lincoln, Neb., point of contact Chris Abboud is a registered lobbyist for the Agri-Business Association of Nebraska.
  • Springfield, Ill., organizer Dave Sykuta is a registered lobbyist [PDF] for API.
  • Detroit, Mich., organizer John Griffin is a registered lobbyist for the Associated Petroleum Industries of Michigan.
  • Richmond, Va., organizer Mike Ward is a registered lobbyist for API in Virginia.
  • Philadelphia, Pa., organizer Rolf Hanson registered lobbyist for API in Pennsylvania.
  • Huron, S.D., organizer Tim Dougherty is a registered lobbyist.

And in Farmington, N.M., rally organizer Wendi Schuur is the director of public and community affairs at Devon Energy, an oil and gas company.

Perhaps “Energy Lobbyists” would be a more appropriate name for the movement?