Yelp dumps climate denying lobby group — are Yahoo & eBay next?

Update Sep 25 at 7:34 a.m. PT: As expected, Yahoo has reportedly dumped ALEC one day after Yelp.

Yelp joined a growing roster of tech giants that have cut ties with the ALEC over the right-wing lobby group’s views on climate change.

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“Yelp is not a member of ALEC,” said Luther Lowe, the company’s director of public policy in a statement. Lowe noted that the firm’s membership ended several months ago, after which they decided to end their relationship.

This announcement signals the third major departure from the controversial firm this week.

A Facebook representative told the San Francisco Chronicle late Tuesday, “While we have tried to work within ALEC to bring that organization closer to our view on some key issues, it seems unlikely that we will make sufficient progress so we are not likely to renew our membership in 2015.”

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told NPR on Monday that “the people who oppose [climate change] are really hurting our children and grandchildren and making the world a much worse place.” He added, “We should not be aligned with such people. They are just literally lying.”

Google was the only company this week to specifically mention ALEC’s environmental stances. Yelp, Facebook, and Microsoft all declined to give specific reasons for their respective exits.

Earlier this month, an alliance of public advocacy groups wrote a formal letter asking Google to stop funding ALEC, which has stridently opposed environmental regulations over concerns that they would hinder economic growth. ALEC has also supported the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and the repeal of the Renewable Portfolio Standards.

Critics also cite ALEC’s other sources of funding, particularly multinational energy companies like Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, and TransCanada.

A list maintained by Common Cause shows that a number of tech firms still maintain a relationship with ALEC, most notably Yahoo and eBay.

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