‘American’s for balanced energy choices’

I’m sure you’ve seen these ads on CNN. They’re furnished by a group called ‘Americans for Balanced Energy Choices.’ After a little research, it turns out that by ‘Americans,’ they mean a collection of mining companies, coal transporters, and electricity producers–the coal industry.

The group’s message — that coal-fired power plants can be clean, and that more of them are needed to meet the growing demand for electricity — comes when opposition to new coal plants is mounting because they generate greenhouse gases. In Kansas, where a state agency rejected a permit for two proposed coal plants, opinion polls show that roughly two out of three people opposed the plants. That sentiment, plus soaring construction costs and uncertainty about federal climate change legislation, last year prompted U.S. companies to abandon or postpone plans to build dozens of new coal plants.

The coal mining industry is fighting back. It increased the budget of the National Mining Association, the industry’s main lobbying group, by 20 percent this year, to $19.7 million. Last September, the industry also boosted the budget of Americans for Balanced Energy Choices more than fourfold. The roster of backers includes 28 companies and trade associations such as Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Duke Energy, Southern Co. and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.