American Lung Association is available for hire as a PR firm.
Politico has picked up on JunkScience.com’s outing of the American Lung Association being paid by natural gas company Chesapeake Energy to support EPA rulemaking against the coal industry.
Politico adds the following:
… Still, Chesapeake’s involvement with ALA isn’t over. The company continues to make donations to the ALA, said spokeswoman Carrie Martin, and some of that money may have gone toward recent ads, like the baby carriage ad and another that features a child eating a snowflake turned black by smog.
Martin declined to say how much Chesapeake has paid, noting that the group doesn’t disclose contributions without the consent of the donors. But she said the group has had no creative control over their advertisements.
Gipson said in an email statement that the company “supported the American Lung Association because of its interest in promoting cleaner air, an interest that we share 100 percent with them.”
Gipson added: “Chesapeake is proud to support a wide variety and number of health and medical-related organizations through our charitable giving program especially those that support initiatives that support cleaner air.”
But Chesapeake and ALA’s relationship goes deeper than just simply writing a charitable contribution.
The American Lung Association thanked Chesapeake in its 2010 annual report for its “generous” funding of a nationwide advertising campaign titled “Fighting for Air.” The ads feature blue skies and children and tout the group’s advocacy work on clean air issues.
Chesapeake also announced a $500,000 contribution to the association in 2008 to match donations for the group’s Clean Air Initiative, a public education campaign about air quality.
Martin said corporate funding is a “fundamental pillar” in ALA’s overall plan to generate revenue, and that Chesapeake shares their goal of promoting healthy air…
Read the original JunkScience.com report from November 10, 2011.