American Chemistry Council

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is a top trade association representing North American chemical manufacturers. ACC represents represents nearly 150 companies and has a $100 million budget. The group spent more than $2 million on lobbying in 2003.

ACC merged with the American Plastics Council in 2002. Formerly know as the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, then later renamed as the Chemical Manufacturers Association, ACC adopted its current name at its June 2000 membership meeting.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
The ACC is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).* It was a "Director" level sponsor of ALEC's 2011 "States & Nation Policy Summit," and it was a private sector member of ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force in 2011.

Against regulating greenhouse gas emissions
In April 2009, ACC protested the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions endangered public health and could be regulated under the Clean Air Act. "We believe that the Clean Air Act is not well-suited to address greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. Given the national implications of carbon dioxide regulation by EPA and the interdependent nature of climate and energy issues, climate policy should be discussed and developed in Congress in tandem with energy policy," said ACC President Cal Dooley.

Battling the precautionary principle
In November 2003, the Environmental Working Group released a leaked memo drafted by Tim Shestek, a lobbyist with the ACC. The memo outlined the key features of a campaign proposal from Nichols-Dezenhall to counter growing support for the precautionary principle in California, which it argued could create a national trend.

Fighting over gas
According to a June 1, 2004 article in The Hill, the organization has been facing an internal struggle between the interests of its members, particularily over the increased price of natural gas.

ACC member companies that primarily manufacture plastics or chemicals use natural gas for heating and electricy and were upset with ACC weak lobbying position on natural gas prices. But ACC also has integrated oil and gas companies as members who benefit from high natural gas prices.

Kids on pesticides
In October 2004, ACC gave the Environmental Protection Agency $2 million to help fund a study exploring the impact of pesticides and household chemicals on young children.

Messaging and PR
Greg Lebedev left his position as president and CEO of ACC on June 1, 2004. The Hill reports, "[L]obbyists who spoke on condition of anonymity said the group's governing board effectively pushed Lebedev out, in part because members thought he had not moved swiftly enough to cut costs or develop a coherent association message."

In 2003, Lebedev had proposed a PR campaign for ACC to boost the industry's image. Initially pushing for a $60 million campaign, the effort is reported to have been scaled back to $20 million after complaints about the project's value.

In the fall of 2005, the ACC launched "an integrated public education campaign to raise the chemical industry's image and reputation," called "essential2." ACC hired Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, APCO Worldwide and Ogilvy & Mather for the campaign, which is expected to cost $35 million over two years.

Part of the "essential2" campaign is a new website, americanchemistry.com. In a press release, Ogilvy & Mather's David Fowler said essential2 would be a "360(degree) communication effort," including "press, television, public relations, online and employee communications." 

In the same release, ACC President and CEO Jack N. Gerard was quoted as saying, "'essential2' makes a powerful statement about how connected we all are and how central chemistry is to the health and growth of our nation. For example, the chemistry industry is America's leading exporter, accounting for 10 percent of all U.S. exports, and we generate more than half a trillion dollars for the U.S. economy each year." 

While promoting the chemical industry as vital to the economic health of the nation the ACC simultaneously lobbied against the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a public right-to-know program. Under TRI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annually reports on what industries release into the air, water and land. The ACC "has urged less frequent reporting since 1999." ACC's Michael Walls said, "Just because we're used to doing something doesn't mean we should accept the inherent high costs or burden of doing it." The Bush administration supports changing the TRI so that fewer releases are reported, less frequently. EPA officials say they will "likely spend another year weighing the pros and cons" of the proposed changes, after the public comment period ends on December 5. According to federal records, the EPA "previously solicited comments from industry groups." 

Inserting positive wording about plastic bags into California schoolbooks
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), a lobbying group representing plastic bag manufacturers, successfully convinced the California Department of Education to rewrite its environmental textbooks and teachers' guides to include positive statements about plastic grocery bags. ACC wrote a letter to education department officials that said in part, "To counteract what is perceived as an exclusively negative positioning of plastic bag issues, we recommend adding a section here entitled 'Benefits of Plastic Shopping Bags.'" The state's final document was, in fact, edited to contain a new section titled "Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags." The title and some of the newly-inserted textbook language were lifted almost verbatim from letters written by the ACC. A private consultant hired by California school officials inserted a question into an environmental workbook quiz asking students to list some advantages of plastic bags. The correct answer to the question (which is worth five points) is: "Plastic bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport and can be reused." The changes were made in 2009, and coincided with ACC's nationwide PR and lobbying push to beat back efforts across the U.S. to enact laws and ordinances banning plastic grocery bags. The changes in the environmental curriculum were discovered by the investigative reporting team California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

ACC programs

 * Responsible Care
 * Progressive Bag Alliance
 * Progressive Bag Affiliates

ACC affiliates

 * American Solvents Council
 * Chlorine Chemistry Council
 * CIIT Centers for Health Research
 * European Chemical Industry Council or CEFIC
 * Hydrogen Fluoride Panel
 * International Council of Chemical Associations
 * Phosphate Forum of the Americas
 * Phthalates.org
 * Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association

Personnel

 * Calvin M. Dooley, president and CEO; a former Democratic Congressman and Grocery Manufacturers Association president hired to replace former ACC head Jack N. Gerard, who left ACC to lead the American Petroleum Institute
 * Robert Flagg, lobbyist. "The American Chemistry Council, a massive group with a budget of $100 million, has been hampered by internal tensions after a recent merger and disagreements over what the industry should do about high natural-gas prices. But Flagg remains 'one of the unsung heroes' among industry lobbyists, one colleague says," writes The Hill.
 * Tim Shestek, lobbyist

Contact information
American Chemistry Council 1300 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, VA 22209 Phone: 703-741-5000 Fax: 703-741-6000 Web: www.americanchemistry.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth
 * BPAFacts.org
 * Bisphenol-A Website
 * American Chemical Society
 * Chemical Companies, Lobbyists and Agribusiness
 * Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association
 * The Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology
 * E. Bruce Harrison
 * Jack N. Gerard
 * Junk science
 * Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals
 * Precautionary principle
 * Sound science

External resources

 * The Chemical Industry Archives is a keyword searchable archive of 37,000 pages of internal U.S. chemical industry documents - including the Chemical Manufacturers Association - obtained from legal actions and Freedom of Information requests. The archive is a project of the non-government research group Environmental Working Group.

External articles

 * American Chemistry Council, Environmental Working Group, January 10, 2001.
 * Environmental Working Group, Chemical Industry's Secret Plan To Attack California's Anti-Toxics Trend, Press Release, November 2003.
 * Jim Snyder, "High natural-gas prices create some bad chemistry for group," The Hill, June 1, 2004.
 * Juliet Eilperin, "Chemical Industry Funds Aid EPA Study," Washington Post, October 26, 2004.
 * "Lobby League #35: The Chemical Industry," The Hill, April 20, 2005.
 * American Chemistry Council news release, "American Chemistry Council Unveils New Public Education Campaign; American Chemistry Council Highlights How Chemistry Is essential2 life," Business Wire, September 22, 2005.
 * Beth Herskovits, "Chemical Industry Aims to Boost Image," PR Week, September 26, 2005, p. 1.
 * Tom Henry, "Annual polluter reports may end; U.S. EPA considering cutback to reduce costs to industry", ToledoBlade.com, November 14, 2005.
 * "Court Declines Pollution Case," Associated Press, January 14, 2008.
 * "Chemical industry needs nuclear," World Nuclear News, May 22, 2008.
 * Glenn Hess, "ACC's Gerard Moves On: Chemical industry leader accepts top job at API," Chemical & Engineering News, June 9, 2008.
 * Jennifer Muir, "Industry fights effort to ban chemical in baby products: State official, scientist criticize a chemical-industry backed campaign to keep potentially dangerous baby products on the market," Orange County Register (California), August 9, 2008.