Let’s pretend, for a moment, that you’ve driven from Alpena to Monroe to purchase that “dream car” you saw posted on Craigslist. Sure, the pictures looked inviting, the description was flawless, and the price was lower than the net number of current George W. Bush enthusiasts, so comparing this vehicle to a dream is nothing short of an apt analogy. Unfortunately for you, once you finally stagger into town after hours of grueling travel, you arrive at the car dealership and find that this dream car, according to your polyester suit-wearing salesman, is missing only a transmission, radiator, battery, three-to-four wheels, and engine, and is covered with non-removable “REO Speedwagon” and “Reelect Nixon ‘72” bumper-stickers.

The above analogy, though seemingly nonsensical, accurately represents the relationship that the coal industry maintains with the people of Michigan and, indeed, the rest of the United States. There are virtually no taboo methods that the advocates of coal energy will employ to trick, deceive, and, in some cases, outright lie to the public about the virtues of its product.

Just look at Web sites like this one: http://www.michiganjobsandenergy.org/. Sure, it looks very enticing. The color scheme is bright and appealing, as is the smooth, sweet-talking narrative; that which cascades up and down the pages, like rainwater baptizing a windowpane. Notice how the word “coal” never once appears anywhere in the rhetoric, which ostensibly oozes with altruism. Neither is a clear-cut mission statement ever outlined. This Web site must belong to one of the good guys, right?

Wrong. The Michigan Jobs and Energy Coalition is, in fact, a cunningly disguised agent of the Big Coal Industry – a collective that seeks to disenfranchise the merits of alternative energy and continue empowering passé outlets like coal and other fossil fuels. Upon further investigation, it seems improbable that they could be anything else, given that they can count Consumers Energy and DTE Energy as prominent members, among others.

The careful expose of MJEC and its foul kindred is a crucial component in the fight to break Big Coal’s stranglehold on the realm of energy production in Michigan. This is an industry which is fully aware that, in terms of efficiency, cost, public health, pollution, and overall merit, the benefits of alternative energy will always trump those of coal and other synonymous fossil fuels, yet continues to consciously mislead the public into believing the exact opposite. Here’s the truth: promoting alternative energy sources will help stimulate Michigan’s economy by creating thousands of new jobs, reducing our reliance on imported energy, and decreasing public health risks caused by coal-burning. To learn more about efficient and renewable energy, visit: http://www.michigancleanenergy.com.

To put it plain and simple, efficient and renewable energy is offering a trustworthy a reliable solution for Michigan’s energy future. Big Coal is offering a pig wearing lipstick. Enough’s enough: this COALition has got to go.