The recent exodus of some prominent information technology firms from a secretive group that links lobbyists with U.S. politicians has prompted a war of words over whether the organization is challenging scientific evidence linking humans to climate change.

Companies such has Google and Facebook have publicly questioned the policies of the American Legislative Exchange Council — an organization founded in 1973 with corporate members and elected officials that work together on hundreds of model policies and bills that are meant for introduction in U.S. state legislatures.

In a recent radio interview on NPR, Google chairman Eric Schmidt told a caller that his company was leaving ALEC after recognizing it had made a “mistake” when it became a member.

“The company has a very strong view that we should make decisions in politics based on facts — what a shock. And the facts of climate change are not in question any more,” Schmidt said on the Diane Rehm show. “Everyone understands climate change is occurring and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people.”

ALEC responded to the Google criticism with a letter signed by 228 of its elected members, including several that have publicly questioned mainstream climate change science. The letter said, “ALEC recognizes that climate change is an important issue,” but that it supports free market solutions and has concerns over government mandates, subsidies and climate regulations.

Google declined to comment further.

The public criticism of ALEC’s climate change policies coincided with a Star report in August that described a summer gathering of the organization. The report revealed that the organization had hosted several workshops and discussions at the conference in Dallas that cast doubt about published climate change science and encouraged politicians to introduce legislation and policies to delay government action.

Nick Surgey, the research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, a watchdog organization that has investigated ALEC, said that Google’s announcement should send a signal to other companies to stay away from groups that promote the teaching of what he described as “climate denial.”

Facebook has also distanced itself from ALEC, noting that it reviews its memberships on an annual basis.

“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,” Facebook told the Star in a statement.

Microsoft told the Bloomberg news organization in August that it had left ALEC, citing a number of factors including evolving policy priorities, budgets and business needs. According to the Washington Post, Yahoo confirmed it left ALEC in September, saying it periodically reviews its membership.

ALEC declined to respond to questions from the Star about whether there was a contradiction between its response letter to Google and recent comments made by one of its officials, John Eick, the director of a committee developing model policies on energy, the environment and agriculture. In August, Eick praised a presentation by climate contrarians at the Dallas conference, explaining that they had provided politicians with “much-needed facts, data and historical anecdotes” needed to debate climate and energy policies.

Marc Morano, who delivered part of the multimedia presentation, said it included what he described as “skeptical talking points on global warming” from A to Z as well as a clip from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters that he used to ridicule catastrophic warnings from scientists.

“To me they (ALEC) are allowing — fostering open debate, and not banning one side of the debate, which is very refreshing,” said Morano, a former Washington political staffer who runs a website that challenges mainstream climate change science. “I will say that they’re certainly on the skeptic side when it comes to policy — I will guarantee that — in terms of being opposed to carbon taxes, cap and trade and EPA regulations.”

Exxon Mobil, which gave $49,000 in funding to ALEC in 2013 according to its own published records, said it remains a member of ALEC, supporting its work related to tax and energy legislation, said spokesman Alan Jeffers.

Exxon Mobil declined to provide specific details about what it does at ALEC, although stressed it doesn’t deny climate change or support denial of climate change.

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When asked about the Google comments, Alberta-based energy company TransCanada, which has offered funding to ALEC in recent years — including sponsorship of an “ice cream social” event at the Dallas conference — reiterated previous comments that it wasn’t a member of ALEC. TransCanada also noted that it has made billions of investments in renewable energy to be part of the solution to climate change, including the acquisition of three solar facilities in Ontario, announced on October 2.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer said in a statement that it was a member of ALEC for work on health policy issues, but that it disagrees with its position on climate change.

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