A Clean Coal Confrontation

Summary
On the campaign trail, President Obama embraced the coal industry's vision of "clean coal" technology. But even before he took office, a coalition of environmental groups (including Al Gore's) launched ads ridiculing the idea as a myth: "In reality, there's no such thing as clean coal."
 
We're sure to hear more of this debate in coming months. Burning coal creates large quantities of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent of the "greenhouse gases" that scientists say is heating up the planet and Obama has said he wants to reduce.

Is "clean coal" possible? Our answer: Probably, though it would come with a big price tag.
 
In our Analysis section, we try to shed a little light on the subject.
 
Analysis
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity TV Ad: "Obama"
On screen: Clean coal. Promoting energy independence.
Barack Obama:Clean coal technology is something that can make America energy independent.  
On screen: Clean coal. Creating jobs.
Obama:And by the way we can create five million new jobs in clean energy technology. 
On screen: Clean coal. Meeting the climate challenge.
Obama:This is America -- we figured out how to put a man on the moon in 10 years. 
On screen: Clean coal. We can. We will.
Obama:You tell me we can't find a way to burn coal that we mine right here in the United States of America and make it work.

(Soundtrack of audience members clapping, chanting "Yes we can!")

The coal lobby's most recent issue ad reminds viewers that the new president has voiced strong support for its side. It features a clip of then-candidate Barack Obama speaking last year, saying "clean coal" is an attainable goal that can create jobs and help the environment:

 
Obama: This is America – we figured out how to put a man on the moon in 10 years. You tell me we can't find a way to burn coal that we mine right here in the United States of America and make it work.

That's just the latest from the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), which represents coal companies, electric utilities and others who profit from mining, hauling and burning coal. Throughout 2008 it ran ads lauding the promise of "clean coal" as the energy source of America's future. One spot featured individuals saying "I believe" in a variety of fuzzy goals – the future, technology, protecting the environment. The newest ad ends with Obama supporters chanting "Yes we can."

No We Can't?
In the opposite corner is the Reality Coalition, a collection of environmental groups spearheaded by ex-Vice President Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. Its TV spot, which delivers the kicker  "In reality, there's no such thing as clean coal," began running last month.

It's a negative message delivered with some wit. The ad shows a man in a hardhat charging through a door to learn about "clean coal" technology, only to find a barren landscape on the other side. Print ads also portray "clean coal" as a ridiculous notion. In the subterranean reaches of a busy D.C. metro station, the group has put up a sequence of wordless posters showing a mermaid, a little green alien and Bigfoot each holding a lump of coal. Nearby panels repeat the message that "there's no such thing as clean coal," and add other info: "There are no homes in America powered by clean coal," "There are roughly 600 coal plants providing electricity in the U.S. Not one of them captures and stores its global warming pollution," and more.

Besides the Gore group, the Reality Coalition also includes the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources  Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the League of Conservation Voters.
 
Both sides say their ad campaigns are national in scope; Brian Hardwick, a spokesman for the Reality Coalition, said his group's ad was running on CNN, Comedy Central, the several popular Sunday morning talk shows and other widely viewed programming. But neither side would tell us how much they were spending. "There are a whole lot of people gunning for us," Cathy Coffey, the Northeast Region Communications Director for ACCCE, told FactCheck.org. Hardwick told us only that "We expect to spend what they're spending."

Accuracy Quotient?
We find no factual misstatements in these ads, but that's because they contain practically no factual claims. Obama did indeed say positive things about "clean coal" during the campaign, often in coal-producing states. (The snippets in ACCCE's TV ad come from an October rally in Virginia coal country.)

Reality Coalition TV Ad: "Clean Coal Plant"
Man in hardhat: Clean coal. Heard a lot about it. So let's take a tour of this state-of-the-art clean coal facility.
 
(Goes through door labeled "Clean Coal Facility Entrance," revealing barren landscape.)
Man in hardhat:Amazing! Machinery's kinda loud, but that's the sound of clean coal  technology. And while burning coal is one of the leading causes of global warming, the remarkable clean coal technology you see here changes everything. Take a good long look. This is today's clean coal technology. 
On screen: In reality, there's no such thing as clean coal.
 
But the Reality Coalition's ads are true as well. There are no commercial "clean coal" plants operating currently in the U.S.

The larger question posed by these dueling ad campaigns is implied rather than stated outright. Can coal can be "clean" in the future? Is "clean coal" a laudable, achievable goal as Obama and the coal miners and electric utilities would have us believe? Or is it a ridiculous oxymoron on par with "controlled chaos," as Gore and other environmental groups suggest?
 
This is partly a matter of opinion, and it's certainly a matter of speculation. We don't know what the future will bring. But we expect to see this debate play out in months to come, and we can offer some basic facts about what research has produced so far.