Green Options

California power utility PG&E rejects the position of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over global warming and leaves the organization in protest.

Duke Energy, the North Carolina-based electric utility announced on Wednesday it would be leaving the clean coal lobbying group, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), over differences with the organizations opposition to clean energy and climate legislation being considered by Congress.

The trail of blame leads in all directions as new revelations continue over forged letters sent from lobbying firm Bonner & Associates to at least three House members urging a no vote on the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill . Calls for Congress and the Department of Justice to investigate begin to mount as well.

The Clean Coal discussion is not as simple as anyone (on either side of the propaganda machine) wants to make it out to be. To quote Bruce Niles from the Sierra Club: “Clean Coal means different things to different people.” If clean coal is what the coal industry wants, it’s already here. Environmental scientists agree that Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has some potential to make coal cleaner. But that nuance is lost in this discussion.

You don’t see commercials for biotech companies that do stem-cell research do it. You’re not seeing wind turbine manufacturers buy ad-time doing it. So why is it that the “clean coal” industry group running primetime television commercials taking soundbites and snippets from what Pres. Obama has said about coal.

In early October, pollsters commissioned by a coal industry group interviewed 600 individuals nationwide about their attitudes towards coal. But pollsters did not seek a random survey, rather they sought the preferences of so-called “opinion elites” nationwide.

The strange appearance and sudden disappearance of the ‘Clean Coal Carolers’ - an industry sponsored Flash animation of pieces of coal, dressed in warm hats and scarves, singing adaptations of traditional Christmas tunes.