Former Virginia Senator George Allen, whose 2006 “Macaca” speech turned into the most famous online gotcha video of all time, has resurfaced after a long political quiesence–and, of all places, online. In a new Web video for the American Energy Freedom Center, which he now leads, he replaces a brown-skinned menace with hints of a green one: Climate legislation. The video appears to be the first installment of what Allen describes as monthly “kitchen table talks” in which he’ll “tell people the truthful story about America’s energy potential.”
The American Energy Freedom Center draws upon an oily pedigree. It is a partner group of the Houston-based Institute for Energy Research, which is funded in part by Exxon-Mobil and is headed by Robert Bradley Jr., who worked as a public policy director at Enron and a speechwriter for CEO Ken Lay.
So why have these guys turned to Allen? According to the Center for Responsive Politics, before Allen lost his Senate seat in 2006, he was Congress’ number 3 recepient of campaign cash from the energy sector . Over his career he raised $1 million from energy companies, including $19,400 from Exxon Mobil. He also brings strong connections to other lawmakers as a former presidential hopeful, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which plays a key role in crafting energy legislation. Moreover, as of 2006 Allen had personally invested somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 in energy companies.
In short, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy I’d trust to sit in my kitchen and tell me how America should “promote the clean, creative, and thoughtful utilization of American energy.” But here’s his pitch, complete with a nifty lapel pin: