Zeitgeist: " Grass-Roots Organizer Jumps From Nature Conservancy to American Petroleum Institute"

From Greenwire via the New York Times:

The oil industry's biggest trade group has nabbed one of the environmental community's top grass-roots organizers as it ramps up efforts to build a network of citizen lobbyists.

Deryck Spooner, who ran Nature Conservancy's push to spur legislative action on climate change, will now head American Petroleum Institute's grass-roots activism arm. The hiring move sends a nervous flutter through environmental groups. By recruiting Spooner, green groups said, API adds someone with both credibility and deep knowledge of grass-roots strategy. Spooner previously ran campaigns for labor group AFL-CIO and abortion rights organization NARAL.

"He's a big dog," said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at watchdog group Public Citizen. "It gives API somebody with enormous grass-roots experience running major campaigns. This indicates that API is taking their grass-roots strategy in a very serious direction.">>>MORE