Oil industry advised to play dirty with greens

[Geee]

The Hill:

A veteran political lobbyist told the oil and gas industry that if it wants to continually expand drilling operations, it must be ready to “win ugly or lose pretty,” according to a secretly-taped recording of the comments.

 

Consultant Richard Berman, founder and CEO of the Washington-based Berman and Company firm, made the comments during a speech to industry executives in June, The New York Times reports.

 

A recording of Berman’s speech was provided to the Times.

 

In it, Berman says executives must be willing to get dirty, and dig up embarrassing information about environmentalists and liberal celebrities.

 

He added that the industry will need to play on emotions of fear, and anger and set it loose on green groups.

 

“Think of this as an endless war,” Berman said at the June event in Colorado Springs. “And you have to budget for it.”

 

Western Energy Alliance, whose members include Devon Energy, Halliburton and Anadarko Petroleum, sponsored the June event.

 

One energy executive took issue with Berman’s comments, however, and secretly recorded the speech, which he then gave to the Times.