Earlier this week, blogger Kevin Grandia posted an entry on several Web sites including the Huffington Post in which he says that our media partners did not disclose that cleancoalusa.org belongs to ACCCE.
Grandia had been looking at a memo referring to work that had taken place years ago, back when that site was run by the Coal-Based Generation Stakeholders (CBGS) — a now-defunct organization that was distinct from ACCCE. We control that site now and are as transparent as possible about who our members are.
Grandia didn't ask us for clarification before posting his blog entry, but our new vice president of media relations, Lisa Miller, sent him a note explaining the issue. I've pasted it below:
It’s too bad you didn’t check with us before publishing your blog entry. We could have cleared up the confusion you have about ACCCE and the CleanCoalUSA site.
You said we don’t list who owns CleanCoalUSA, but we list the entire membership on the site: http://www.cleancoalusa.org/docs/members/You reference a memo from R&R Partners that is years old and involves the original owners of the site CleanCoalUSA site, a now-defunct group called the Coal-Based Generation Stakeholders (CBGS).
While CBGS had many of the same members as ACCCE has today, the membership list was not identical. When the America’s Power campaign, led by ACCCE, began in 2007, the need for CBGS went away and they dissipated.
I hope that clears things up. Looking forward to working together in the future.
Best,
Lisa Camooso Miller
ACCCE Vice President, Media Relations
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
Hi Lisa, I don’t really care who owns your company, or who makes money from it… please tell me , in as few words as possable, how you can claim coal is a “green’ energy source? At least be truthful, and say coal’s not the cleanest, or most efficiant source of fuel, but it’s all we’ve got right now, so lets make a plan to utilize that.. The glass is more empty, than full. E.Fulton
Elizabeth: Technology has already made coal a cleaner energy resource – overall our plants are 77% cleaner in terms of emissions currently regulated under existing Clean Air Act programs per unit of energy produced. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures show that. And with new advances in technology, we’re looking at a future where coal will meet America’s growing electricity needs with little to no emissions of the pollutants regulated by federal and state clean air laws.
77% cleaner? Wow! So I suppose I can eat all the salmon I want now, without worrying about the mercury coal plants have added to them… and I suppose thousands of Americans who die from fine particulate pollution added to our atmosphere by coal plants are safe from here on out. And I suppose your CO2 emissions, the ones warming the planet and threatening billions of people, have also been reduced by 77%? No? But then what is all this advertising blitz about? Couldn’t you be putting the money towards building at least a _single_ CO2 sequestration coal plant in this country, just one, instead of spending it on marketing?
Please send information on ways we the people can assist in this matter.
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