Want to learn more about coal? Check out our resource page on the Top 5 Clean Coal Myths.
“Clean coal” 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 it 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 “…electricity from coal is getting even cleaner everyday…”.
Click here to watch an interview with ACCCE‘s president Stephen Miller (transcript ). The folks at Gristmill summarize his key points:
- “If we push too hard, too fast, we will force fuel switching away from coal.”
- “The president and the congress have a role to play to make sure the public sector invests in coal-fired power.”
- We’ve spent a lot of money on t-shirts, trucks, and advertising to affect the primary campaign, and it’s working.
The ACCCE hasn’t wasted a moment in beaming their message into the homes of Americans. Here’s their 60-second, buzzword-loaded nationwide ad.
“I believe…” is repeated by the “ordinary Americans” in the ad. “I believe in the future… I believe in protecting the environment… I believe in technology… I believe we can limit greenhouse gases… I believe we will do this… Clean Coal. America’s Power.”
As DeSmogBlog has pointed out , “clean coal” 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 “believe”, it is false.
There are only so many different ways they can spin it, and only so many different acronyms they can invent.
Keep trying, guys, but know this: we’ll be watching, and we’ll be one step ahead of you all the way.
