Environmental, industry groups push back against Gibson Guitar

Over at our Hillicon Valley blog, Brendan Sasso reports:

A coalition of environmental groups and wood product companies is launching a public relations counteroffensive against what they describe as misinformation promoted by Gibson Guitar.

The groups want to protect the Lacey Act, which Gibson is under investigation for possibly violating. Gibson, led by its CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, has decried the government investigation as bullying and harassment.

Government raids of Gibson factories last month have become a rallying cry for conservatives who see them as emblematic of an overreaching federal government.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Juszkiewicz to sit with him during President Obama's address to Congress last week, and he mentioned the company in his own jobs speech last week as an example of how excessive government regulation can destroy jobs.

"Gibson is a well-respected American company that employs thousands of people," Boehner said. "The company’s costs as a result of the raid? An estimated $2-3 million. Why?  Because Gibson bought wood overseas to make guitars in America.  Seriously."

The Lacey Act makes it a crime to import plants or wildlife into the U.S. if those goods were obtained in a way that violated the laws of another country.

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