John Cornyn: “15 years ago, an environmental group called the Clean Sky Coalition launched an ad campaign targeting coal. The ads…”

“15 years ago, an environmental group called the Clean Sky Coalition launched an ad campaign targeting coal. The ads featured faces covered in soot, with the headline: ``Face it, Coal is Filthy.'' Of the many controversial ad campaigns we have seen over the years, this doesn't seem particularly noteworthy, but these ads at the time sparked so much outrage that they were eventually pulled. You might wonder why. An environmental group attacking coal is hardly front-page news. Why was this ad campaign different? This wasn't a matter of what was being said; it was a matter of who was saying it and why. It quickly came to life that the group behind the ad was only about 2 weeks old, and the entire ``pro-environment'' effort was sponsored by a natural gas company seeking market share over coal. As they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows--in this case, environmentalists and natural gas companies were both anti-coal, though, for very different reasons. Knowing that the American people wouldn't respond to the argument that coal is bad because it means less business for the gas companies, this particular company found a deceptive and manipulative way to help shape public opinion. Today, we are seeing a similar push but with much greater reach and far higher stakes. Just as one company used the guise of environmentalism to attack its competition, Russia today is using the same tactic to boost its own profits and enhance its power.…”