Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a well-funded coal
industry group, is prospecting for PR help in two states
and on the national level as it pitches coal as an "essential,
affordable and increasingly clean" energy fuel.
The Alexandria, Va.-based group issued RFPs for work in
both Pennsylvania and Nevada for help in targeting the public,
politicians, interest groups, and the media.
Steve Gates, senior communications director for ABEC, told
O'Dwyer's that the group is also in the beginning stages
of talking to firms about PR efforts on a national level.
He welcomed input from firms about those plans but said
ABEC has not had time to draw up an RFP for that work.
The National Journal reported last week that the coal industry
and its allies agreed to up ABEC's PR, grassroots and advertising
war chest from about $8M a year to $30M a year. As the Journal
noted: "Two words sum up why the companies opened their
checkbooks: global warming." The climate change issue
is combining with previous environmental concerns like mountain-top
removal, as well as safety issues and a less-sympathetic
Democratic Congress to put the coal industry on alert. ABEC
says that the U.S. has coal reserves that would meet energy
demands for the next 250 years.
Proposals for the Nevada PR work are due by Oct. 1, 2007, while the Pennsylvania RFP
carries a deadline of Oct. 9, 2007. Gates (gates [at] balancedenergy.org)
said he was interested in hearing from firms with ideas
for national media outreach.
MGA Communications, Denver, worked with the ABEC in the
past, before it had an in-house PR staff. It now has four
regional communications heads to direct its PR operations.
|