"In reality, there's no such thing as clean coal."

That's the message from the Reality Coalition, a band of environmental groups that has launched a television and print ad campaign designed to undermine public support for coal as a component of any national energy plan. The centerpiece of the group's efforts is "Clean Coal: This Is Reality," a 30-second TV spot that began running Thursday on network and cable television as part of a multimillion-dollar ad buy.

The ad opens with an engineer in a hard hat standing in front of a door marked "Clean Coal Facility Entrance." "Clean coal," he says. "You've heard a lot about it, so let's take a tour of this state-of-the-art clean coal facility." The engineer then steps through the door to find nothing but an empty wasteland.

With President-elect Barack Obama pushing for a national energy plan -- and the features of that plan very much up in the air -- Reality Coalition spokesman Brian Hardwick said they want to bust the myth that coal can be safe.

"They are trying to mislead people to believe that there is clean coal technology available today," he said of Big Coal. "Right now, there isn't a single household or business that is being powered by clean coal."

But the ad is already taking heat from the environmental blog Common Progress, which argued that repeating "clean coal" seven times in a half-minute ad is counterproductive.

"Their inaugural ad violates a central rule of messaging, rhetoric, and psychology: Don't keep repeating a strong word the other side is trying to push," the blog chides.

Hardwick said detractors are missing the point.

"The guy in the ad is supposed to be a guy from the industry, which is designed to undermine their whole branding," he said. "We're not about the creative word-smithing or marketing. What we're about is going out and asking questions and letting people come to their own conclusions."

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity did not return a call for comment, but the industry group did release a statement Thursday evening saying it was "surprised" by the ads.

The Reality Coalition comprises the Alliance for Climate Protection, the League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. This isn't the first ad buy for Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, nor is the coal industry its first target: The group hit the airwaves in September to protest Big Oil's lobbying against renewable energy legislation.

--David Herbert