Valero’s Flawed “Voices for Energy”

So the trickle turns into a tide. They are all at it now. There is a sudden rush amongst oil and gas companies in the US to garner grasssroots support to attack the Climate bill.

Just days after Greenpeace released an internal memo from the oil boys at the American Petroleum Institute, detailing plans to launch a nationwide astroturf campaign called “Energy Citizen”, we have Valero, North America’s largest independent petroleum refiner, trying to mobilise grass-roots support to “oppose this cap and trade legislation”.

In a scaremongering letter to all employees sent two days ago, Bill Klesse, the company’s CEO, argued that if the Waxman/Markey bill becomes law, “it will have an enormous negative impact on the economy, the consumer, the refining industry, and employees of the refining industry. We need your help to oppose this cap and trade legislation.”

The memo continues that “As a leader in the refining industry, we have decided to engage in a full court press, so to speak, in opposition to the cap and trade legislation that is being considered.  You may see our opposition campaign at our Valero Corner Stores beginning in early September. ”

The company’s creative types and PROs have obviously been busy coming up with a catchy name for their campaign. So hot on the heels of the API’s “Energy Citizen” we have Valero’s “Voices for Energy”.

It makes you wonder why the industry can’t be just a little bit more creative, doesn’t it.

On the company’s website – it says “You can be a Voice for Energy. We encourage you to take action and convey your message to legislators. By doing so, you’re not only supporting our company and our industry, but American energy security, American jobs and the American economy.”

The website says that “We have created a resource at www.voicesforenergy.com that provides a fast and easy tool for contacting your legislator and learning more about this issue ….   Your support is critical.  Thank you for your dedication and support of our company, and thank you for being a voice for energy.”

The only trouble is as of this morning the link doesn’t work.

So here’s a little bit of advice to the oil bods. If you are going to try and run a PR campaign via a website, via a “fast and easy tool” – make  sure it works before starting the campaign.

Otherwise it kind of backfires.  And instead of “easy tool” you have “silly fool.”

PS. the image above is from a cached version of the VoicesforEnergy website.