• Los Angeles Times, Friday, February 27, 2009 10:45 AM

A TV spot for an environmental coalition that's trying to undermine the concept of "clean" coal made its debut last night. Directed by Academy Award-winners Joel and Ethan Coen, it follows a grinning pitchman bearing a can of "clean coal" air freshener that sends a suburban family into coughing spasms when they spray a cloud of it inside their home, Maria Dickerson reports. Tag line: "In reality, there's no such thing as clean coal."

The coal industry has formed a trade group known as the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, spending $18 million so far on spots touting coal's abundance and the efforts being made to clean up the fuel, a major emitter of the greenhouse gases. Spokesman Joe Lucas says the industry had spent more than $50 billion since the 1970s installing pollution-control equipment and designing plants that are more efficient.

Four environmental groups formed the Reality Coalition last year to counter the coal industry's message. Coalition spokesman Brian Hardwick says the sardonic script proposed by the group's advertising agency hooked the Coen brothers, who have won two Oscars.

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