[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H3783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE REAL FILTHY SECRET BEHIND THE COAL ADS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.


                 Chairwoman Juanita Millender-McDonald

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues in the words of 
mourning and celebration of the life of our late colleague, Juanita 
Millender-McDonald. She was a leader on many issues as we have heard 
stated already. And foremost among those in my opinion was her 
leadership and her vision as the first African American female chairman 
of a major committee here on Capitol Hill. She had a plan for how this 
City on a Hill would operate in a more smooth and efficient manner. And 
while she may not be with us to see that vision carried out, it is my 
hope that we will carry it out in memory of her. So to her husband and 
to her children and to her grandchildren, I hope that her memories will 
serve as a source of inner strength, inspiration, courage and love for 
the rest of their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, on another subject, if I might, over the last few weeks, 
a series of anti-coal advertisements sponsored by a group called the 
Clean Sky Coalition have been running in prominent publications, such 
as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and other publications 
that we in this body come to rely upon each day and view each day. 
These ads feature photos of people whose faces are smeared with coal 
dust and the headline reads, ``Face It, Coal Is Filthy.'' Indeed, there 
have been bumper sticker handouts on the streets of Washington, DC, 
stating that same phrase.
  But the real filthy secret here is that the people depicted in these 
ads are not our Nation's coal miners but they are Hollywood models, and 
the ads are not being financed by environmental groups as one might be 
led to believe by the title of Clean Sky Coalition but, rather, these 
ads are primarily being financed by elements of the natural gas 
industry, including Chesapeake Energy Corporation headquartered in 
Oklahoma City. These ads are despicable and so is this so-called Clean 
Sky Coalition. The sponsors are not being truthful and they would have 
you to believe that it is merely environmental groups leading this 
campaign. The filthy secret is that this ad campaign is about market 
share. It's about profits. It's about one segment of the energy 
industry trying to bamboozle the general public and policymakers to 
sell more of its product.
  And the filthy secret is that these ads completely ignore the 
tremendous progress being made to burn coal cleanly and ignore the 
national security interests of this country. The only truth here is 
that these ads are an insult, an absolute insult to the hardworking men 
and women who go beneath this Nation's bowels each and every day to 
produce the energy that provides for this Nation's electricity.

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