The June 2001 Lawrence Summers Memorial Award* goes to Western Fuels Association, Inc.

On March 31, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Western Fuels Association against the Turning Point Project, a non-profit organization formed to place educational and advocacy advertisements in newspapers, plus various organizational signers of a Turning Point Project ad on global warming, including Friends of the Earth, Earth Island Institute, Ozone Action, the Rainforest Action Network and the International Center for Technology Assessment.

The Western Fuels Association suit alleged that the Turning Point Project ad was false and misleading (“In fact, scientific observations reveal that the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on our environment is both modest and benign,” the Association’s complaint states).

But the suit alleged much more. The Association argued further that the Turning Point Project and associated organizations are commercial competitors “with a direct financial stake in the outcome to eliminate coal-fired generation and replace it with ‘renewable’ sources of generation.”

“Defendants advocacy activities are big business,” the Western Fuels Association alleged, and the “false and misleading representations contained on the Turning Point web site and in the Global Warming ad are made in the context of commercial advertising or commercial promotion” — a solicitation for funds to support the project.

The judge dismissed the suit for improper venue and lack of jurisdiction, and did not reach the issue of Western Fuel Association’s substantive claims.

Thanks to Terry Lodge for submitting this nomination.