I know I'm not the first to rail on corporate greenwashing, to point out that "clean coal" is an oxymoron, or to suggest that it's simply wrong to claim that the Hummer 3 is eco-friendly because gets marginally better fuel economy than the last version of this automotive obscenity.  However, as I mentioned in yesterday's post on greenwashing that I put on 2GreenEnergy, lies like these come at a significant and growing cost to the fools who spread them -- in terms of public backlash.  The world is growing increasingly intolerant of the complete BS to which it's sujected in corporate propaganda campaigns; the level of scorn and ridicule facing companies that have no compunction about spreading bald-faced lies is growing day by day.  

The problem here, however, is that some greenwashing is more insidious and potentially harmful that others.  If Coca Cola wants to try to convince us that they "Hydrate the World" (as opposed to poison it), we may have to live with that.  But the concept of "clean coal" directly blocks our civilization's path to a rational energy policy that balances our need for energy with our concern about the health and safety of all 7 billion people living on this planet  -- not to mentional that of future generations.