AstroTurf has no roots

AstroTurf has some serious perils (or so says my football-playing little brother). Falling on real grass can result in some grass stains and maybe even some mud stains, but falling on AstroTurf can result in a nasty rug-burn-like scrape known as turf-burn.

DC lobbyists and legislators are suffering from a little turf-burn of their own these days. In the political world, the term “astroturf” is a play on the oft-used term grassroots, and refers to corporate-funded PR efforts to stage the appearance of grassroots support when, in reality, community support is lacking.

In this scenario letters supposedly written by the NAACP and American Association of University Women in opposition to climate change legislation were actually traced back to a DC lobbying firm.

Here at SE2 we’re big supporters of grassroots advocacy campaigns, and we pride ourselves on a track record of good work with community-based coalitions that has led to significant political and legislative victories. But we shy away from requests to prop up political support if it means resorting to AstroTurf.

Moral of the story: In all its green, fake-grassy glory, AstroTurf inflicts scars that grass(roots) would never leave.