Talk about bad timing.  Just weeks before the most deadly mining disaster in decades, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) — a front group of big utilities and coal companies — compares mining coal to fighting in Afghanistan:

 

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Yes, well, mining coal is like fighting in a war zone if you are working for Massey(see Deadly Record: Massey’s Montcoal mine cited for 3,000 violations, over $2.2 million in fines and FLASHBACK: Don Blankenship warned West Virginia that he believes in “survival of the fittest”).

As for ACCCE, you may recall from September that the dirty coal group’s 14th forgery impersonated American veterans, whereas real vets support strong action on climate and clean energy — as does GOP Senator John Warner, former Armed Services Committee chair. The coal industry front group is simply shameless in its phony flag-waving (see In “Act of Despicable Hubris,” coal front group ACCCE exploits veterans groups to push dirty energy agenda).

Continued unrestricted use of dirty coal and oil will destroy the health and well-being of countless Americans — it’s already killing tens of thousands of people today.  True patriots want us to slash fossil fuel use as fast as possible (which is pretty darn fast), see, for instance, New Poll of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Finds Overwhelming Support For Clean Energy Climate Legislation.

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Oh and for the record, the Powder River Basin appears to have a lot less economically-recoverable coal than we’ve been led to believe — see WSJ front-page shocker: “U.S. Foresees a Thinner Cushion of Coal,” warns rosy U.S. coal estimates “may be wildly overconfident.”

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