December 26, 2008

Coal Industry Spent Tens of Millions On Marketing ‘Clean Coal’ As Eco-Friendly

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Coal industry magnates, who stand to lose big if new pollution standards become law, reportedly spent between $35 million and $45 million on advertising this year pitching “clean coal” as a new environmentally friendly fuel, Washington Times reports.

Dan Weiss, who co-authored the study on how much the coal industry spent on advertising and lobbying for clean coal compared with how much they spent on research, estimates that for every $17 members of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy earned in profits in 2007, they spent $1 on researching carbon reduction technologies.

Critics of “clean coal” say the concept is somewhat ambiguous because it involves carbon reduction technologies that are still 10-15 years from being built for American plants.

“They spend very little in research and spend a lot of money in trying to convince people not to make them do anything,” said Weiss on a conference call with reporters. “The hypocrisy comes in when you look at what they’re actually doing.”

In March, The Alliance for Climate Protection launched a three year, $300 million global warming marketing campaign.

Major U.S. automakers and industry trade associations spent $62.6 million on lobbying in 2007, compared with $50.3 million in 2006. The energy bills and the Bush administration’s efforts to craft new fuel rules dominated their spending.

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Join the Discussion

Get EL Daily in your inbox, subscribe to free newsletter

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

  • 11/06/2009
  • 11/05/2009
  • 11/04/2009

Industry Voices [ see all ]

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

ARPA-E Deserves Support

ARPA-E Deserves Support

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards