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Shallow Thoughts: CNN/Rush Limbaugh edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

CNN is ecstatic. They are already gushing about all the new Rush clips that they can loop ad nauseam instead of those pesky anti-coal ads.

That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

VIDEO-- Myth-Information: Coal-sponsored CNN rejects anti-coal ad

By GottaLaff

Anyone who thinks that the news media are not bought and paid-for is delusional:

Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen created the anti-coal ad to harpoon the coal industry’s greenwashing campaign. Today, Politico’s Mike Allen reported that CNN rejected the ad [...]

As ThinkProgress has reported, CNN’s presidential campaign coverage received significant backing from the coal industry. The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has also tracked CNN’s Ali Velshi’s promotion of so-called clean coal.

No bias in the media. Nope. Ridiculous. Absolutely crazy.

Eradicating an ugly Bush stain: E.P.A. Objects to Coal-Powered Plant in S. Dakota

By GottaLaff

There is no such thing as clean coal. Let's hope that the ObamAdministration fully realizes that. This is a good start, though, toward eradicating yet another filthy, toxic Bush stain:

The chairman of the Public Utilities Commission said the Environmental Protection Agency had filed objections to an air quality permit a state agency had granted for the proposed coal-fired Big Stone II power plant. “This is a signal that the Obama administration is taking a much harder look at coal power from the previous administration,” said Darrell Gerber, a program coordinator for the group Clean Water Action, which along with the Sierra Club opposed the plant. [...] The 580-megawatt plant is planned by the Otter Tail Power Company and four other utilities for the Milbank area in the northeastern corner of South Dakota.

The ugly Bush stain, eradicated: Coal and power plant edition

By GottaLaff

Got a stain? Shout it out!

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday abandoned its push to revise two air pollution rules in ways that environmentalists had long opposed, abruptly dropping measures that the Bush administration had spent years preparing.

One proposal would have made it easier to build a coal-fired power plant, refinery or factory near a national park.

The other would have altered the rules that govern when power plants must install antipollution devices. Environmentalists said it would have resulted in fewer such cleanups.

EPA officials had been trying to complete both before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. But an agency spokesman said Wednesday they were giving up, surprising critics and supporters.

Shout!

"Black is the new green"

By GottaLaff

Black is green. Up is down. Dirty is clean. Bush is Gore.

Speaking to USA Today, Gregory Boyce, CEO of Peabody, the world’s largest coal company, “shrugged off any worries” about coal’s enormous greenhouse gas emissions or moves to make energy more environmentally friendly, declaring the U.S. would never move away from coal [...]

“There’s a perception out there that coal is dirty, and we have to change that,” he adds, noting that coal plants already have cut emissions of some pollutants and boosted efficiency to slash CO2 discharges. “Black is the new green.“

Though Peabody is swimming in green — with profits soaring so far this year to $290 million — it’s a lie to suggest coal is somehow clean. Burning coal “adds a significant amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per unit of heat energy, more than does the combustion of other fossil fuels.” What’s more, though Boyce boasts of a $9 million investment into “clean coal” technology, he fails to note that the coal industry’s largest front group has vowed to pour $40 million into efforts to block climate change and alternative energy legislation.

And guess who contributed to Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future, the 527 corporation promoting the "Drill Here, Drill Now" campaign? Right.