Microsoft announced Tuesday that it's cutting
ties with the American Legislative Exchange
Council, a conservative public-policy lobbying
group. It appears this decision was made due
to ALEC's lobbing efforts to block the
development of renewable energy.
Microsoft had previously been a member of
ALEC's Communications and Technology Task
Force. In a statement, the company said it has
halted all participation in this group.
"In 2014 Microsoft decided to no longer
participate in the American Legislative
Exchange Council's Communications and
Technology Task Force, which had been our
only previous involvement with ALEC," the
company said. "With this decision, we no
longer contribute any dues to ALEC...we are
no longer members of ALEC and do not
provide the organization with financial support
of any kind."
Microsoft's decision comes on the heels of
other major corporations dropping
membership with ALEC, including Coca-Cola,
General Motors, Bank of America, and Proctor
& Gamble. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates
stopped financially supporting ALEC in 2012.
According to advocacy organization Common
Cause , all of these companies pulled
membership with ALEC after it was revealed in
2011 that the lobbying group had secretly
pushed legislation for restrictive voter ID
requirements, anti-union measures, and
proposals to block renewable energy
development.
Environmental organization Greenpeace
lauded Microsoft for ending its relationship
with ALEC.
Thanks to cnet.com
