"Lobbying Disclosure Forms Don't Tell Full Story"

"Coal's big lobbying group this August sent workers to 264 cities to attend state fairs, visit Kiwanis meetings and set up tables at college campuses, all part of a campaign aimed at powering advocacy for the fuel.

That activity in eight states led to media coverage, a plus for the group, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, or ACCCE. 'Likely members of Congress would have seen those stories and read those stories and seen there was support for coal,' said Lisa Camooso Miller, an ACCCE spokeswoman. The effort came just before the Senate was due to return from its August break and consider climate legislation that is likely to have a profound effect on coal.

But none of the money ACCCE spent on that August effort is reflected in the lobbying report it filed with Congress, detailing spending in July, August and September. The report also fails to capture what ACCCE spent on television advertisements featuring 'real people' talking about the importance of coal as a source of low-cost electricity in their lives."

Anne C. Mulkern reports for Greenwire October 26, 2009.