Green Options

Editor’s note: This post was written by Rachel Barge, and originally published on Tuesday, March 31, at SolveClimate.

We all know young people have a handle on the Internet like no other demographic. My generation grew up playing computer games, had PC literacy classes in elementary school, and secretly hijacked the internet for music pirating before we were teens. We have an intuitive sense of the web – its uses, its limitations, and its future.

The nation’s young people are now harnessing that power for climate action, and we’re beating coal’s dirty PR in ways that have industry front groups shaking.

The coal industry’s American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has poured millions of dollars into online advertising to convince Americans that “clean coal” is the solution to global warming, and it’s planning a $20 million online push this year. But type “clean coal” into Google, and up pop progressive climate blogs, spoofs and news articles.

In my own search for “clean coal,” eight out of the top 10 organic results were web sites that completely debunked the idea – only Wikipedia and an AP news article held both “sides” up. Not a single site in the top 10 was a pro-clean-coal industry page. Industry front group have had to buy their way onto Google’s front page, thanks in large part to young bloggers.

This is Reality has a new TV spot directed by The Coen Brothers. Check it:

“Clean coal is supported by the coal industry. The most trusted name in coal!”
There is no such thing as “clean coal” in the U.S. today. Coal is responsible for 32% of CO2 emissions in this country and 83% of the CO2 emissions from producing our electricity. In theory, we could retrofit this nation’s coal plants to capture their pollution and store it. Here is my question: If every single coal plant needs to be revamped to be truly “clean,” why not just invest that time and money in truly clean, renewables?

Despite the truth about coal, America’s coal industry spends millions of dollars to convince us that coal is the solution to our energy needs. The folks fighting these guys don’t have millions of dollars, but we do have a voice, and we can pull together to spread the word about the clean coal myth.

We’ve seen the best clean coal ad ever and we’ve seen the coal lobby co-opt the Obama message, now we can enjoy the tongue-in-cheek stylings of the Coen brothers and their take on “clean coal”.