"Industry Group’s Self-Depiction Raises Eyebrows"

"At first glance, the Waters Advocacy Coalition could be mistaken for a typical environmental group. The home page of its Web site, protectmywater.org, features a banner reading 'Protect the Clean Water Act' across a photo slide show of flowing streams and clear mountain lakes. ...

But Bill Chameides, a professor of environmental science at Duke University who writes about environmental issues at his blog the Green Grok, recently noticed something unusual about the group: this month it filed a formal objection to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to rescind a Clean Water Act permit for a proposed West Virginia coal mine. ...

As it turns out, there’s no big mystery here: the Waters Advocacy Council is not an environmental organization, but a lobbying outfit for some of the nation’s largest industrial and agricultural concerns, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Industrial Sand Association and the National Mining Association.

Many of these groups have long battled against vigorous enforcement of the Clean Water Act by the E.P.A., and their opposition to increased environmental regulation is well documented."

John Collins Rudolf reports for the New York Times' Green blog January 24, 2011.