Report: Senate Democrats Assigned Conservative Groups to Attack

Senate Democrats have been assigned various conservative nonprofit groups to target during floor speeches on their climate policies Monday and Tuesday, The Washington Free Beacon reports.

The website says it obtained emails sent by Emily Enderle, environmental policy adviser to Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who is heading up the effort.

The schedule contains 19 Democrats who are set to attack the organizations that oppose the party's policies in what the Democrats call a "web of denial."

According to the Free Beacon, the internal emails show a coordinated effort between Democrats in Congress and environmental groups to take on the fossil fuel industry and groups that support it.

The schedule was put together by Whitehouse and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, according to the Free Beacon. Reid was initially set to start things off on Monday afternoon with an attack on Americans for Prosperity, but that has since been tweaked, and Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin will start things off with Reid possibly speaking Tuesday morning.

Here is the original schedule as obtained by the Free Beacon:

Monday

• Sen. Reid – 4:10 p.m. (Leader Time) – Americans for Prosperity, Nevada Policy Research Institute
• Sen. Cardin – 4:45 p.m. – Annapolis Center for Science-Based Public Policy
• Sen. [Chris] Coons – (tent.) 5 p.m. – Group TBD
• Sen. [Tom] Udall – 5:15 p.m. – Western Fuels Association
• Sen. [Tim] Kaine – 5:30 p.m. – Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
• Sen. [Chuck] Schumer – 6 p.m. – Mercatus Center (tent.)
• Sen. [Jeff] Merkley – 6:15 p.m. – Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
• Sen. [Richard] Blumenthal – Time TBD (or Tuesday) – Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council
• Sen. Whitehouse – Time TBD – The Advancement of Sound ScienceCenter, Chamber of Commerce, Committee for Constructive Tomorrow, Franklin Center for Government and Policy Integrity, James Madison Institute, John Locke Foundation, Locke Institute

Tuesday

• Sen. [Barbara] Boxer – Time TBD – Hoover Institution, Reason Foundation, Pacific Research Institute
• Sen. Coons – Time TBD (or Monday) – Group TBD
• Sen. [Brian] Schatz – 5 p.m. – Center for Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Heartland Institute
• Sen. [Al] Franken – 5:15 p.m. – Heritage Foundation
• Sen. [Elizabeth] Warren – 5:30 p.m. – Science and Public Policy Institute
• Sen. [Martin] Heinrich – 5:45 p.m. – American Legislative Exchange Council
• Sen. [Jeanne] Shaheen – 6 p.m. – Competitive Enterprise Institute, Energy and Environmental Legal Institute
• Sen. [Jack] Reed – around 6 p.m. – SEC climate change disclosures and the dangers of climate change denial from a national security perspective
• Sen. [Ed] Markey – 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. –Acton Institute, George C. Marshall Institute, Lexington Institute, Global Climate Coalition
• Sen. [Gary] Peters – 6:30 p.m. – Cato Institute
• Sen. Blumenthal – Time TBD – Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council
• Sen. Whitehouse – Time TBD – The Advancement of Sound Science Center, Chamber of Commerce, Committee for Constructive Tomorrow, Franklin Center for Government and Policy Integrity, James Madison Institute, John Locke Foundation, Locke Institute

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