Coal Industry Front Group Cans Clean Coal Carolers

canned Cross-posted from WattHead – Energy News and Commentary

What happened to those adorable clean coal carolers?!

After just three days of online absurdity, the coal industry front group, “America’s Power” canned the anthropomorphic singing chunks of coal from their website amidst a torrent of netroots pressure.

After getting kicked around by the blogosphere for a few days, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity‘s absurd and more than slightly disturbing and sacrilegious effort to win the hearts and minds of Americans with doctored Christmas carols was eventually pilloried by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC:

“How about turning the most famous song in the English language about the birth of Jesus into a commercial for the coal industry? … Where are all those war on Christmas people when you need them?!”

Today, the coal front group pulled the clean coal carolers from their website and took down the facebook page (which had been joined by about a dozen new Facebook members with names like “Asthma Al” and “Black Lung Billy” soon after it was launched!). The group’s blog only had this to say by way of explanation: “We had fun this week with the Clean Coal Carolers and hope you enjoyed them. Now it’s time for them to head home for the holidays.”

Well WE had some fun with them too, and I think we all know why they took down the clean coal carolers. At least today, chock this one up as another win for the netroots and a loss for multi-million dollar industry-sponsored greenwashing. Happy Holidays!

(Luckily, someone caught the “Frosty the Coal Man” video on youtube before it’s hilarity was lost forever. Check it out below the fold…)

About Jesse

Jesse Jenkins is an energy and climate policy analyst, advocate, and blogger. Jesse is the Director of Energy and Climate Policy at the Breakthrough Institute in Oakland, California, where he works to develop and advance new energy solutions to power America's future, secure our energy freedom, and halt global warming. He joined Breakthrough in June 2008 and previously directed the Breakthrough Generation fellowship program for young clean energy leaders. Jesse worked previously as a Research and Policy Associate at the Renewable Northwest Project in Portland, OR, helping to advance the development of the Pacific Northwest's abundant renewable energy potential. A prolific author and blogger on clean energy issues, Jesse is the founder and chief editor of WattHead - Energy News and Commentary, a featured writer and advisory board member at the Energy Collective, and a frequent contributor at Forbes.com, Huffington Post, and Grist.org.

6 Responses to “Coal Industry Front Group Cans Clean Coal Carolers”

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1 onenuss Dec 12th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

go netroots! Does anyone remember Mr. Hankey from South Park? The resemblance is uncanny.

Pic: http://msfriendly.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/mr_hankey_the_christmas_poo_by_stac.jpg
2 Andrew Nazdin Dec 12th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

I invested a lot of procrastination energy into tearing into that facebook group. I went back to check it a few minutes ago only to find it gone!

Thats what they get for trying to take on youth on our own turf.

Start planning for when the industry roles out Coal Ash Wednesday, The Ancient-dead-coal-Ester-Bunny (overtime it was compressed into coal), and black hearted valentines day.
3 Change Dominion Dec 13th, 2008 at 12:55 am

This is too funny!!! Thanks for telling this story so well. The coal industry must be smoking something to think that this would have worked for them.
4 Lloyd Alter Dec 13th, 2008 at 11:02 am

I actually caught four of the songs, my favourite is O Technology, click on my name to get to them.

1 Clean Coal the new Healthy Cigarette! « WriteChic Press Trackback on Dec 12th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
2 Are You a Closet Coal-Burner? : Eco Child’s Play Trackback on Dec 30th, 2008 at 6:14 am

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