This is a Think Progress repost.  Click on cartoon to see the whole coloring book.

Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to “inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry” and “provide a united voice” for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.

FOC is now selling coal to children. ThinkProgress obtained the “Let’s Learn About Coal” coloring book, which asks children to unscramble statements about the “advantages” of coal, such as “Than coal other cheaper is fuels” (”Coal is cheaper than other fuels”). Kids also learn that coal is “important” and “provides jobs for lots of people!”

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This is a Think Progress repost.

Today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing investigating fraudulent letters forged by Bonner & Associates on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) to attack the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454). As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, ACCCE President and CEO Steve Miller lied under oath when he told the committee that his organization has never opposed clean energy legislation.

Later during the hearing, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) asked Miller about the purpose of ACCCE. Miller replied that in addition to grassroots lobbying (astroturfing) and state-based lobbying, his front group has only began federal lobbying in “April of 2008″ in its “16 year history”:

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You can’t make this stuff up, as this Think Progress repost makes clear.

A group led by Alliance Coal CEO Joseph Craft recently proposed donating $7 million to the University of Kentucky for a new dorm for the men’s basketball team. The catch, however, is that the dorm would have to be named after Craft’s true love: coal. The proposed change sparked intense protests from local environmentalists and students. One professor said that as universities become “models for new energy sources,” putting “coal” on a prominent building could “make it difficult to attract top students and faculty members to the university.”

[JR:  Yes, coal industry will spend millions for a new dorm -- and yet Massey Energy refused to fund a new school so students can move away from coal processing plant!]

Yesterday afternoon, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees voted 16-3 to approve the proposal for the new dorm, which will be named the “Wildcat Coal Lodge.” Significantly, two of the “no” votes were from faculty representative Ernie Yanarella and Student Government President Ryan Smith, who said he opposed the motion “as a voice for the student body.”

Students in the audience were reportedly not allowed to speak at the meeting. After the vote, people began chanting, “Move forward, not backward,” forcing the trustees to temporarily recess. More on the events at the meeting:

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The key point about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is that they do not speak for “American business.” That’s why there’s been an exodus of leading companies from the denial-pushing industry group.  That’s why as Grist reported, Microsoft’s Rob Bernard wrote in an e-mail that “The views expressed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce do not reflect Microsoft’s position on climate change and we are not participating in their climate initiatives.” This repost from Wonk Room tells the story of yet another industry leader speaking out for clean energy jobs and against the Chamber.

Last week, over 150 business leaders from major American companies came to the capital to tell Congress to “pass comprehensive climate change and energy policy legislation this year.” One of the corporate titans who participated in the We Can Lead effort was Jeffrey Hollender, the co-founder, executive chairman, and “chief inspired protagonist” of Seventh Generation, the leading producer of green household products. In an exclusive interview with the Wonk Room, Hollender had strong words for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, explaining that it made sense for prominent companies like Nike and Apple to cut ties to the chamber over its opposition to climate action:

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The exodus of leading companies from the Chamber has been downsizing the denial-pushing industry group (which most certainly does not speak for the business community).  But Think Progress has the story (first posted here) of rapid weight loss that easily beats any of the winners of the reality show, “The Biggest Loser.”

As Mother Jones reported yesterday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce consistently says that its membership is 3 million, even though it’s actually closer to 200,000. The reason for the artificial inflation is that the organization is counting the memberships of 2,800 state and local chambers around the country, even though many of these businesses have no relationship with the national organization. Some of these members are now protesting the Chamber’s numbers game:

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Coal is not healthy for kids. As one U.S. study found, “Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on children’s cognitive development and health” (See “If you want smarter kids, shut coal plants“). Hence, Coal for Dummies.

Perhaps the only thing worse for kids than living downwind of a major coal plant is living downwind of coal itself.  As the BBC reported in February (see Chinese birth defects “up sharply”), “A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects….  The coal-mining heartland of Shanxi province had the biggest problem.”

Do coal companies have any responsibility to directly protect children from the harmful effects of air pollution?  Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) thinks so, but Massey Energy thinks otherwise, as Think Progress explains.

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U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday applauded companies that have quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because they disagree with the business group’s climate change policy. “I think it’s wonderful,” Chu told reporters at a solar energy event on the National Mall. He said companies that left the Chamber object “to foot dragging, to denials” and realize that efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses are “part of our economic future in the United States.”

… “I would encourage the Chamber of Commerce to realize the economic opportunity that the United States can lead in a new industrial revolution,” said Chu, a supporter of alternative fuels and strong regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

You just can’t keep up with all the news about the nano-Chamber of Commerce.  But here are the key points:

• BusinessWeek asks, “Does the U.S. Chamber Speak for Big Business?”  The answer, on climate policy, is “no.”
• The Chamber has not been following its own stated guidelines (see The Chamber claims its “Board of Directors is the principal governing and policymaking body.” Nike says that’s false, and American Enterprise Institute agrees, calling the Chamber board “mostly ceremonial.”)
• The Chamber has been lying to the public (see The incredible, shrinking industry group falsely claims “We’ve never questioned the science behind global warming”)
• The Chamber has been lying it is members, as this repost from Wonk Room makes clear.

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Memo to media:  The ever-shrinking Chamber of Commerce is not “the voice of business.”  Indeed, we now know that besides being anti-scientific, it is anti-democratic, not even bothering to consult with its own Board of Directors on its own climate policy — in direct contradiction to its stated policy.

Greenwire (subs. req’d) reports the amazing news:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce staff decides the trade group’s climate and energy policy positions without approval from the board of directors, Nike Inc. charged as it formulated a plan to call for greater chamber openness.

Nike, which last week left the chamber’s board of directors but decided to remain a chamber member, described a lack of transparency at the group that conflicts with how the chamber describes its operations. Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike said it is determined to work for changes in the group.

“We just weren’t clear in how decisions on climate and energy were being made,” said Brad Figel, Nike’s director of government relations. “They’re not being made at the board-of-director level, because we’re a member of the board of directors. We were not consulted. We’re convinced that’s not really where the action on climate change is being made.”

As previously documented, the vast majority of the major businesses on the Chamber’s board who have a publicly stated their position on climate legislation support strong action (see here).

Kenneth Green, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, defended the Chamber’s anti-democratic denialism:

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The US Chamber of Overstated Horrors has been hemorrhaging credibility and members since it blurted out its true agenda with its Luddite call for “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century” on global warming.   The Chamber is shrinking faster than the size of Apple Computer’s products.

Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon have already left, leading to more desperate lies from the Chamber, which falsely claimed “We’ve never questioned the science behind global warming.”

The NY Times reports yesterday that the latest company to come to its senses is Apple.  The innovative tech giant issued a blunt letter saying:

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Nike has put on its running shoes and bolted from the incredible, shrinking industry group’s board, like so many others (see “Will last company to leave the Chamber’s Boardroom please turn off the lights!” and “Nation’s largest utility pulls the plug on the Chamber over climate denial“).  Think Progress has the details:

In the past couple weeks, three energy companies have ditched the reeling U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its opposition to global warming action. Although Nike has publicly expressed its frustrations with the Chamber’s anti-science positions, it hasn’t started to sever ties with the organization — until now.

Facing increasing pressure from activists, Nike today announced that is resigning from the Chamber’s board of directors:

It is important that US companies be represented by a strong and effective Chamber that reflects the interests of all its members on multiple issues. We believe that on the issue of climate change the Chamber has not represented the diversity of perspective held by the board of directors.

Therefore, we have decided to resign our board of directors position. We will continue our membership to advocate for climate change legislation inside the committee structure and believe that we can better influence policy by being part of the conversation. Moving forward we will continue to evaluate our membership.

The New York Times has an editorial today criticizing the Chamber for being “way behind the curve“:

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Like a bad horror movie, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just can’t stop shrinking — and like the incredibly shrinking man, it is becoming increasingly desperate in its efforts to save itself.

After a third company, Exelon, the nation’s largest utility, pulled the plug on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate denial, Chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel desperately — and falsely — claimed “We’ve never questioned the science behind global warming.”

In fact, as NRDC’s Pete Altman (with some help from National Wildlife Federation) reports:

In a petition to EPA this summer, posted on the U.S. Chamber’s website and part of the public record on important global warming proceedings under the Clean Air Act, the Chamber argued that a “warming of even 3ºC in the next 100 years would, on balance, be beneficial to humans” because of fewer cold-related deaths in winter months. (p. 38)  The petition is available at:  http://www.uschamber.com/co2/default

This is but one part of an elaborate U.S. Chamber effort to prove that climate change is not a threat.  As part of its comments to EPA, the U.S. Chamber submitted a 57 page document that would make even he hardiest climate denier blush (See “Detailed Review of EPA’s Health and Welfare Scientific Evidence” on the above-referenced site).

Here are some excerpts:

1. “The increased use of air conditioning will mitigate many of the effects cited by EPA….” (p.1)
2. “Overall, there is strong evidence that populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations” (p. 4)
3. “The evidence when considered together suggests potential increases in temperature as the result of climate change will not pose an endangerment to public health… ” (p. 14)
4. “The U.S. health care system has effectively dealt with many of the reported climate sensitive diseases for a long time, and will continue to respond effectively.”  (p. 39)

Wonk Room further notes:

This is a blatant falsehood, by any definition. The Chamber has a long history of questioning the science of climate change. The Chamber’s present campaign against regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency questions the existence of global warming as well as the scientific evidence of its impacts on the public health and welfare. The Chamber promotes global warming denier books “to advance our thinking about issues of significance,” and has promoted the work of global warming denier Pat Michaels since at least 1992:

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Yet another company caught greenwashing, courtesy of Wonk Room.

In October, corporate front group Americans for Prosperity is hosting its annual “Defending the American Dream” conference. The get-together will feature right-wing notables such as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). The keynote address will be given by Newt Gingrich, who was propelled back into the media spotlight last year with his “Drill Here, Drill Now” pro-oil campaign.

One of the “Gold Sponsors” of AFP’s global warming denying conference is the “green” print and paper company TrayPML. TrayPML markets itself as a company that makes “active strides to protect the planet.” On its website, TrayPML also boasts about its ability to help companies “go green.” The company touts its environmental credentials by publicizing the World Wildlife Fund as an esteemed client. AFP, of course, mocks the protection of endangered wildlife, and argues for increased drilling in Alaska’s preserved lands.

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The President of the US Chamber of Commerce, who is resisting calls from his own board members to stop fighting against federal climate policy, is being richly compensated by Union Pacific, a company which — along with some of its key businesses partners — is vigorously fighting against federal climate policy.

When we last left the Chamber it had admitted that calling for the ‘Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century’ on climate science was dumb, but it was still aping the deniers.  But even before that, many wondered, Why is the Chamber of Commerce a right-wing echo chamber when much of its Board supports a strong clean energy and climate bill? Pete Altman, NRDC’s Climate Campaign Director, has an explanation in this piece first published on NRDC’s Switchboard blog.

When we last left the flagship of the coal industry efforts to stop the clean air, clean water, clean energy jobs bill, it was fast taking on water (see “Duke Energy quits coal front group over climate bill“).  Sure some otherwise sane passengers had joined the crew’s efforts to patch up the holes (see “GE fights for change from the inside … of a scandal-ridden coal industry front group!“) — for now (see below).  But the smart ones, like Alcoa, had quietly gotten on one of the few remaining lifeboats.

Today Greenwire (subs. req’d) reports:

Another member of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is leaving the coal-and-utility trade group, citing concerns about whether the alliance wants to obstruct legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

Alstom Power, a French company that makes parts for power plants and is working on carbon sequestration, said it is leaving ACCCE immediately.

“We have resigned from ACCCE because of questions that have been raised about ACCCE’s support for climate legislation,” said Tim Brown, an Alstom spokesman. The French company, which is partnering with U.S. utilities on power-plant projects, said that it wants to “remove any doubt about our full support” for a climate bill.

The move comes less than a week after Duke Energy Corp. said it was withdrawing from ACCCE because of powerful members of the group that are unwilling to support climate legislation. Alstom’s decision also shrinks ACCCE’s membership as the Senate returns and ACCCE lobbies the Senate on its version of climate legislation….

Both Alstom and Duke belong to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of businesses, environmental groups and other organizations lobbying Congress to mandate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. CAP in its blueprint for action urges Congress to “quickly” enact legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

There are now just two companies that belong to both ACCCE and U.S. CAP: Caterpillar and General Electric Co.

C’mon Caterpillar and GE — do you really want to go down with the ship?  Like the Titanic, the good bad ship ACCCE is coal-powered and steaming too fast in the wrong direction:

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All of us who want to see the world changed for the better struggle with whether it is better to fight for that change from the inside or the outside.

But you can’t fight for change from inside an organization dedicated to stopping change, like, say, the scandal-ridden front group American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy.  You know that a coal-industry-funded group is beyond redemption when one of the largest coal utilities in the country abandons them (see “Breaking: Duke Energy quits coal front group over climate bill — GE and Caterpillar should do the same“).  Duke explained in a statement:

“We believe ACCCE is constrained by influential member companies who will not support passing climate change legislation in 2009 or 2010.”

Duh.

The Center for Public Integrity’s excellent staff writer Marianne Lavelle managed to get GE on record with a truly laughable defense for their refusal to join Duke (and Alcoa):

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You can’t make this stuff up — and you can’t keep up with the staggering amount of fraud and falsehood coming out of industry.  Brad Johnson reports on one of the most outrageous coal-industry statements made in recent years.  ACCCE’s Joe Lucas has just jumped to the front of the race for “Greenwasher of the Year.”

The coal industry front group embroiled in an Astroturf scandal is now arguing that mountaintop removal coal mining helps communities “hampered because of a lack of flat space.” Joe Lucas, vice president of communications for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), told the Guardian that dynamiting the tops off of mountains — far from being the “rape of Appalachia” — is actually a boon to rural communities:

I can take you to places in eastern Kentucky where community services were hampered because of a lack of flat space — to build factories, to build hospitals, even to build schools. In many places, mountain-top mining, if done responsibly, allows for land to be developed for community space.

The concept of “responsible” mountain-top mining is laughable, as Mountain Justice explains:

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