Want to learn more about coal? Check out our resource page on the Top 5 Clean Coalย Myths.
โClean coalโ spin by any other name is still spin. In other words, the coal industry has scrapped one front group name for another, as if we wouldn’t figure itย out.
The coal industry’s $35 million spin machine , Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), is now the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). This is the result of a merger between the ABEC and another coal industry interest group, the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED).
The ACCCE website is complete with a gorgeous blue sky, pretty flowers, and assurances that โโฆelectricity from coal is getting even cleanerย everydayโฆโ.
Click here to watch an interview with ACCCE‘s president Stephen Miller (transcript ). The folks at Gristmill summarize his keyย points:
- โIf we push too hard, too fast, we will force fuel switching away fromย coal.โ
- โThe president and the congress have a role to play to make sure the public sector invests in coal-firedย power.โ
- We’ve spent a lot of money on t-shirts, trucks, and advertising to affect the primary campaign, and it’sย working.
The ACCCE hasn’t wasted a moment in beaming their message into the homes of Americans. Here’s their 60-second, buzzword-loaded nationwideย ad.
โI believeโฆโ is repeated by the โordinary Americansโ in the ad. โI believe in the futureโฆ I believe in protecting the environmentโฆ I believe in technologyโฆ I believe we can limit greenhouse gasesโฆ I believe we will do thisโฆ Clean Coal. America’sย Power.โ
As DeSmogBlog has pointed out , โclean coalโ is a scam. Carbon capture and sequestration is expensive, and won’t even be feasible for large-scale operations for many, many years. No matter what the coal lobby tries to make us โbelieveโ, it isย false.
There are only so many different ways they can spin it, and only so many different acronyms they canย invent.
Keep trying, guys, but know this: we’ll be watching, and we’ll be one step ahead of you all theย way.
