Friday, January 18th, 2008

January 8th, 2008 – The following email was sent to 26,200 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

If you’ve been watching cable news, you’ve probably seen the television ads from the coal industry that tout coal as a “clean energy” that provides “America’s power.”

Why is the coal industry suddenly spending so much money on the airwaves, trying to convince Americans that coal is good for them?

They’re doing so because as the public learns the dirty secrets behind so-called “clean” coal” — from the more than 450 mountains destroyed by mountaintop removal mining to coal’s role in contributing to global warming — they’re doubting the coal industry’s contention that expanding the use of coal is worth the high costs to our environment.

And with the presidential election now in full gear — and because coalfield states are set to be hotly contested swing votes in the general election — the coal industry knows that 2008 is set to be a defining year in the battle over coal.

That’s why the coal industry is going on the offense with a full-scale PR blitz featuring media buys and fake “astroturf campaigns” in the early presidential primary states.

For example, in South Carolina — a state that relies upon mountaintop removal coal to power its coal plants — an industry front group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) has launched TV and print advertising alongside a new website to influence the debate over coal during this month’s presidential primary:

[The ABEC website features an] array of young people, many of whom appear to be under 10 years of age, enlighten visitors about the happy, hunky-dory world of coal. Alicia sets down her book bag to explain how coal and environmentalism go hand in hand, while young Sarah tells how we have more energy in the form of coal than the Middle East has in oil. “I’m doing my homework,” she says. “You do yours too.”

The website is part of a multimillion dollar campaign by ABEC to promote American coal interests. They estimate they’ll spend around $200,000 in S.C. during this election cycle, and they’re focusing on newspaper and television advertisements….. ABEC also appears to have a dedicated staff of bloggers and public relations folks – within hours of a recent post about coal on City Paper blogs, their representatives had left comments in favor of the industry.

ABEC doesn’t deny that they’re funded by power, mining, and shipping industry interests….

But across the country, people like you are standing up to prevent the greenwashing of the coal industry and to get the truth out about the high cost of coal to our nation’s environment and the mountains we love.

And in 2007, you made incredible gains:

• More than 25,000 Americans have pledged to end mountaintop removal mining (MTR) on iLoveMountains.org
• An incredible 122 cosponsors in Congress are now supporting the Clean Water Protection Act, which would sharply curtail mountaintop removal coal mining
• More than ten thousand letters have been sent to Congress and the Office of Surface Mining, urging Congress to act to stop MTR and demanding that the Bush administration leave alone rules that protect our mountains and streams from the destructive waste of MTR coal mining.

Your efforts are part of a nationwide movement that is putting pressure on the coal industry to clean up its act on multiple fronts. For example:

• More than 50 proposed coal plants have been defeated in recent years, with more than 60 proposed coal plants being fought around the country
• CARMA (Carbon Monitoring for Action) have unveiled an online campaign that reveals the carbon emissions of more than 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies in every country on Earth.
• Our own My Connection campaign is raising awareness of how power companies across the United States are helping to fund mountaintop removal coal mining through the purchase of dirty coal.

These efforts are just the beginning. In 2008, we have a plan to ensure that the debate over coal and mountaintop removal coal mining remains at center stage.

The coal indiustry may be gearing up for a fight — but so are we.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be writing more about what we have in store for the coming year. But you can help grow the movement today by inviting five family members or friends to join you in pledging to stop mountaintop removal coal mining in 2008.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.