Palm | Kelapa Sawit

I just read this article over at ThinkProgress detailing the insanely greenwashed new campaign from American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. It includes a humorously sung song about Frosty the Coalman, sung by chunks of animated coal extolling the virtues of clean coal. In one such lyric:

There must have been some magic in clean coal technology,
For when they looked for pollutants there was nearly none to see

There is even an interactive version at the ACCCE's website with hovering lumps of adorable coal with googly eyes. It's the worst sort of greenwashing, and frankly the most blatant. It would be almost hilarious, except for the fact that this coalition of big businesses apparently finds the American people so moronic that they would actually buy this garbage.

Read the article below or read the article and hear the song here. If you want to see the interactive version go here.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
‘Frosty the Coalman’: King Coal Launches Holiday-Themed Greenwashing Campaign»

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) has launched a new holiday-themed greenwashing campaign through their website AmericasPower.org aimed at painting their “environmental oxymoron” clean coal technology as “clean,” “affordable,” and “adorable.” As Switchboard explains, the campaign features “animated lumps of coal belting out songs like ‘Frosty the Coalman,’ ‘Clean Coal Night,’ and ‘Deck the Halls (with Clean Coal!).’” An excerpt from “Frosty the Coalman”:

Frosty the Coal Man, is a jolly happy soul.
He’s abundant here in America and he helps our economy roll.
Frosty the Coal Man, is getting cleaner every day.
He’s affordable and adorable and helps workers keep their pay.

There must have been some magic in clean coal technology,
For when they looked for pollutants there was nearly none to see.

View the original interactive version.

It is not clear if ACCCE will expand its new holiday campaign beyond their website, but in the past ACCCE has spread its falsehoods on TV, radio, and in print, often spending millions. In early 2008, ACCCE’s clean coal campaign reportedly had $50 million to spend on pro-coal, anti-climate initiatives.

The Wall Street Journal recently credited ACCCE’s misleading campaign with convincing politicians, the media and the public that “clean coal” is a cure-all for global warming pollution from coal-fired power plants. Even President-elect Obama has taken the bait.

Clean coal, of course, is nothing of the sort. Al Gore put it bluntly: “Clean coal’s like healthy cigarettes — it does not exist.” Similarly, Kevin Grandia writes, “Nothing like mercury emissions, asthma attacks and melting polar ice-caps to get me in the holiday spirit.”


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Ecomerge post by Jeff Hammond

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