November 27, 2010 07:41 PM UTC

Penry Spins Through Revolving Door

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• by: ClubTwitty

Exiting public service, at least for now, soon-to-be former state Senator Josh Penry takes his first real job off the public dole–going to work for an energy astro-turfing firm: EIS Solutions.

EIS Solutions handles government affairs and public relations for companies involved in the energy industry.

EIS Solutions appears to be a bit of a family-affair: another name associated with this company is Tim Pollard, brother-in-law to Penry, now himself spinning through the lobbyist door.  

Astroturfing the Western Slope?

EIS Solutions use to have a readily searchable website. Although most of it was behind a ‘clients only’ password protection–there was some information for the public to peruse.  

Not so much anymore.  Although the company is still in existence–and its principals are still touting less regulations, more drilling, digging and tax benefits for their wealthy benefactors–learning about whom exactly they represent has become a bit more murky.

But Twitty archives.  The following comes from a .pdf file (currently available here) that provides a glimpse into some of the goals and tactics of this corporate-controlled ‘grass roots’ firm.

EIS Solutions–which was founded mid-decade in Grand Junction by former XCel Energy executive Wade Haerle–specializes in creating ‘citizen’ advocacy such as:

•Organize public hearing attendance

•Facilitate “on message” testimony

•Post-hearing follow-up with supporters

•Maximize positive news coverage

One of the projects that EIS Solutions took on was creating a mob of angry roughnecks to push back against the sensible, and minor, oil and gas regulations that Colorado recently began to implement.  Who can forget the ‘Don’t Rule Us Out Stickers’ bought and paid for, no doubt, by Big Oil and their corporate astroturfers.  

“Our core competency is grassroots coalition building. EIS Solutions connects the goal of CEOs and senior management to people on the ground to ensure that projects come to fruition. On a project that’s worth millions or billions of dollars of revenue after a client gets it to market, it’s critical to successfully navigate the NEPA process and avoid delays. We know NEPA. So, we can speed the process and save our clients significant costs. And we shorten the time to get a permit, so our clients can start their projects and begin getting a return on their investment. In short, we create a path to advocacy.”

Think those concerned about water quality might pose a problem for your hopes to mine for uranium?  Who you gonna call?

Why, EIS-Solutions of course!

In fact, Mr. Penry’s new lobbying firm takes some pride in their ability to fool policy-makers and the public about their true intentions, for instance they tout this apparent mark of their success:

“Looking through the form letters, from environmental groups, they’re concerned about environmental impacts. A lot of the individual letters were from local folks supportive of the mine and interested in the economic benefits of the mine,” said David Boyd from the BLM.

And while it has become a little more difficult to track down particulars of this energy consulting firm, bullshit still stinks.  You can hide it behind some bunting and spin, you can spray all the perfume you want: astroturf may look ‘green’ but its readily apparent what it really is–plastic manufactured crap.