Google officials say they have dropped their support of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The internet company will not be renewing their membership with ALEC next year, according to reports. Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt says “consensus within the company was that [the investment] was some sort of mistake and so we’re trying to not do that in the future.”

Schmidt also made note of ALEC's claims against climate change, saying the group is “making the world a much worse place.”

“The people who oppose it are really hurting our children and grandchildren and making the world a much worse place,” Schmidt said during an NPR interview Monday. “We should not be aligned with such people. They are just literally lying.”

ALEC officials say Google began partnering with them in August 2011, paying the organization about $10,000 a year. Google was reportedly part of the organization's communications and technology task force, focusing on the areas of e-commerce, privacy and broadband. 

“It is unfortunate to learn Google has ended its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council as a result of public pressure from left-leaning individuals and organizations who intentionally confuse free market policy perspectives for climate change denial,” Lisa Nelson, ALEC’s chief executive officer, said in response to the news.

Microsoft Corp. has also severed ties with ALEC, telling Bloomberg that working with a group that “is actively fighting policies that promote renewable energy was incongruous.”