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It's OK if you've never heard of the ITAA or AeA, two of several trade groups which lobby for Valley companies. That's one reason they're talking about merging. Unlike, say, the coal industry, tech has no single front group, nor an industrywide issue around which companies can rally. Heck, there isn't even a Wikipedia page for the expired R&D tax credit. If Silicon Valley expects to see any of President Obama's $150 billion in alternative energy spending, the ugly truth is tech firms will need to get in there and fight before ExxonMobil — the sponsor of Stanford's alternative energy program — grabs it all.