The multimillion-dollar ad campaign launched last month by the environmental advocates of the Reality Coalition to debunk the idea of clean coal, is now being matched by a similar-sized effort by Peabody Energy, the world's largest private sector coal producer. Peabody is appealing for federal funding for carbon recapture technology to be part of the stimulus plan.

The campaign, handled by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, reprises the tagline "Coal Can Do That" that Peabody used several years ago to tout the various products that come from coal. The new campaign attempts to frame carbon recapture technology as the second phase of an already successful effort to reduce harmful emissions from coal plants. Peabody is also sending out thousands of direct mail and e-mail missives with the same message to lawmakers and opinion leaders around the country.

The ads build on the efforts of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which plans to plow up to $40 million this year into a continuation of its year-old advertising campaign. ACCCE's latest ad showcases remarks by then-candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail touting the potential for clean coal technology. But the Center for American Progress --  whose president, John Podesta, has headed Obama's transition -- recently released a study charging that ACCCE's 48 member companies spent only $3.5 billion of their combined profits of $58 million on clean coal research and concluded that "the real purpose of the clean coal campaign is to postpone requirements to reduce emissions." ACCCE says the report's figures are misleading.

                                                                                                              -- Julie Kosterlitz