Advocacy Group Makes $1.7M 'Clean' Coal Push

by Anna Edney

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008


A merger of two coal advocacy groups earlier this year resulted in $1.7 million of "clean coal" advertising beginning this week -- some of which is off the beaten path -- that will continue through the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

While the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has already received a boost from Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns in their support for developing clean coal technologies, the industry group hopes to reach deeper into the ranks of the politically connected over the next two weeks to convince both sides of the aisle to keep coal in the energy equation, said Joe Lucas, a spokesman for the group.

The billboards, television and newspaper ads, maps of Denver and the group's street staff will hit up delegates by pushing clean coal as the option that does not require a trade off between affordability and being environmentally friendly, Lucas added.

The $1.7 million advertising push is the latest manifestation of the coal industry lobby's effort to increase its profile, which started with the joining of Americans for Balanced Energy Choices and the Center for Energy and Economic Development to form the coalition in April.

The move coincided with energy concerns coming to the forefront of the presidential and congressional campaigns, as well as Congress' agenda for the foreseeable future.

"Because of that challenge -- you can call it an opportunity -- we knew we had to be out there," Lucas said. He added that the coalition's campaign budget for this year will total $45 million to $50 million, up from about $15 million combined the groups spent as individual entities in the past.

The coalition says the coal industry will develop technologies to trap carbon dioxide emissions at coal-based power plants and store the greenhouse gases safely underground -- a prediction met with a hefty dose of skepticism from clean-energy advocates.

Despite the push by organizers for both parties to hold green conventions, Lucas said the group's message is not out of place. "We have not had to retool our message one bit because this is what we've been saying consistently over time," he said.

The coalition will split its spending nearly down the middle between the two conventions, Lucas said.

The only difference is that about 50,000 more handheld fans will be on hand to cool Denver convention-goers -- the result of an opportunity created by Barack Obama's choice to hold his Thursday acceptance speech outside at Invesco Field at Mile High.

The "I'm a fan of clean coal" cooling contraptions will total 25,000 in Minneapolis, Lucas said.

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