Coal's Dirty Campaign

Taking advantage of high energy prices, the coal industry has begun a major PR push to market coal as the answer to all of the nation's energy concerns. Across the country, coal advocates are pushing for the construction of more than 150 conventional, coal-fired power plants, which would lock us into decades of increased pollution.

What's more, the coal industry is also trying to promote dirty coal as a new source of liquid fuels (glossing over the fact that the process will result in nearly twice the pollution as the gas we use today).

Ad campaigns and websites are popping up with increasing frequency around the country, most, if not all, of which are funded either directly by coal companies such as Peabody or through a front group organization that is funded by coal companies. The websites and ads mischaracterize coal as a clean technology, neglecting to mention the impacts that coal use will have on global warming and public health.

This push was initially timed with the release of a National Coal Council report calling for a near doubling of current coal consumption. The NCC is an advisory council to the U.S. Department of Energy that consists almost entirely of coal interests. The report was chaired by Peabody Coal. Not surprisingly, the report did not discuss the many impacts coal use will have on global warming, not to mention the impacts it will have on our land, water and health.

To learn more about the NCC report, see:

Peabody's Energy Fantasy: America's Nightmare