The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is beefing up its media operations by hiring two outside public relations firms-- one of which has very strong Republican ties-- to burnish its image.

Last year, the group generated a wave of negative press when it was widely reported that an outside grassroots consultant, Bonner & Associates, sent bogus letters to some members of Congress. Bonner no longer does grassroots work for the clean coal group.

The ACCCE recently retained HDMK, a PR firm that boasts Terry Holt, a former spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Oh., and Trent Duffy, a former deputy press secretary to President George W. Bush, to work with national media. Holt told NJ that his firm will be "part of the strategy team on message development."

Further, Dan Ronayne, a managing director of the Howard Consulting Group, was retained to work with regional reporters. ACCCE has been pushing for significant alterations on climate change bills in Congress. President Barack Obama's latest budget calls for ending billions in tax breaks for the coal industry, but includes sizable new funding for clean coal technology which he has long backed.

ACCCE is in its third year of operation and spends upwards of $30 million a year on advertising. Earlier this week, it launched a new round of television and online ads that are expected to run for a few months.