Coal Industry Sponsoring Tonight’s CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/28/gop-debate-coal/

Coal Industry Sponsoring Tonight’s CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate

Tonight at 8 pm EST, CNN will air a Republican presidential debate, live from St. Petersburg, FL. A full-page advertisement in today’s Washington Post states that the debate is being sponsored by the “clean coal” industry:


View the full page ad at link~

Sponsorship of tonight’s debate appears aimed at influencing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who is leading a “crusade against coal.” Crist has unveiled a plan to reduce his state’s carbon dioxide emissions by replacing coal plants with solar thermal power plants. He has also canceled plans to build new coal plants that were pushed by his predecessor, Jeb Bush.

In early October, when Tampa Electric shelved plans to build a $2-billion power plant, Crist applauded the move:

“I am not a fan of coal,” he reiterated. He pointed to the expansion of nuclear power, as well as recently announced solar and biomass projects, as examples of clean, reliable, affordable energy.

“There’s a lot of different ways to skin the cat and still provide the energy that Floridians need and deserve without harming Florida in the process,” Crist said.

This CNN debate isn’t the first sponsored by the coal industry. On Nov. 15, it also sponsored the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, NV, which featured a similar full-page ad in The New York Times. The move appeared to be an attempt to pressure Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who has stood firmly against the construction of three proposed major coal-fired power plants in his home state.

Today, the Center for American Progress released Progressive Growth, a new plan to create a low-carbon economy. Climate Progress has more on the plan.

[spanone]

1. quid pro quo

[tridim]

2. Coal and Coors, a typical republican wet dream. n/t

[Elspeth]

3. Follow the money

Business as Usual

[Astrad]

4. They sponsored the democratic one as well. n/t

[mojowork_n]

5. Yeah, ...but....

...the outrage to me isn't that the coal industry has opened their wallets on this public stage.

Why should *any* corporate funds be needed, at all? Whatever happened to primacy being given to programming content that is broadcast "in the public interest"-- over the airways that are supposed to belong to "all of us?" Did the Reagan administration do away with that, at the same they sh*t-canned the Fairness Doctrine?

Why should we have to rely on private (self-interested, by definition) sponsorship -- whether it's from the Coal Industry, Big Pharma or Big Insurance -- or the Solar Power, Wind Power or Run-Your-Car-On-Used-French-Fry-Grease Association?

I'm not totally up at the leading edge of knowing what new energy technologies are all about, but I do know that here in Wisconsin, our Democratic Governor recently signed on (along with 5 or 6 other regional governors, most of them Democrats, I think) to back a new coal-driven power plant in Illinois. Until they actually get some built, I'm not convinced the Coal Industry's 'new-and-improved-clean-burning' technology is going to prove out, and there are no doubt going to be trade-off's involved, but it's probably just not realistic to believe we should be ignoring this relatively cheap and abundant carbon fuel, either. If the investment equation is going to include reducing the demand for foreign oil -- and if the Fischer-Trops (spelling?) process for coal-to-liquified petroleum fuel has a chance to reduce it further... I'm not saying I'm sold on it, but it's probably not like having these debates sponsored by Those-Same-Great-Folks-Who-Brought-Us-the-Dick-Cheney/Oil-Industry-Secret-Energy-Plan-for-the-New-Millenium, either.

...O.K., that's my two cents. A lump of coal in my Christmas stocking if I have no clue on this, but a lot of Americans actually do have a stake in jobs in related (domestic, manufacturing and mining) industries.