More on those Wal-Mart coal ads
Remember those Wal-Mart ads about how using compact fluorescent light bulbs would eliminate the need for more coal-fired power plants?
Well, West Virginia Public Broadcasting picked up on the ads, and did a story in which the United Mine Workers of American union complained about Wal-Mart’s message. It quoted UMWA spokesman Phil Smith:
“When they say in their ad that the amount of these light bulbs they’ve sold equates to not building three coal-fired power plants, that’s a direct attack on coal miners’ jobs. I don’t know how else you can put that.”
And, I finally got to talk to a Wal-Mart PR person today. Company spokesman Dave Tovar told me Wal-Mart doesn’t have anything against coal, coal miners or coal-fired power plants:
“The reference to coal plants was simply to show a comparison of energy usage. We don’t have a position one way or the other on coal plants.”
What I really wanted to know, though, was why Wal-Mart was running these ads only in the Washington, D.C., market, and not in places like West Virginia or Kentucky. Here’s all Tovar would tell me:
“We run lots of ads in all sorts of markets to reach lots of different audiences.”
6 comments
It’s a pity that Wal-Mart feels they have to backpedal over something that clearly does the world good - reducing the demand for climate-destroying coal-fired electric power.
It is clear to me that Wal-Mart has plenty against the coal mines and the miners that risk their lives suppling energy for the United States………they’re (miners) mostly union.
It is true we need to work on making coal cleaner……..but we need to use resources we HAVE instead of depending on someone else.
Wal-Mart needs to lobby for and stock the shelves with American Made Products, period!
While we’re at it……..paper is 100% recyclable, where the computers that have taken its place may be only 5% recyclable. It’s a local resource that will never end if managed correctly.
Just look at the jobs that have been lost and the waste generated.
I am the owner/operator of my own coal mining operation. Since 1980 to present I’ve had several underground mines and now re-mine old refuse piles under AML in Virginia. I do not consider myself a patriot nor do I consider myself bent on destroying the planet. I live just a few miles from where the new Power Plant is being constructed at Virginia City. It has been disappointing to see so many outsiders coming into this area to fight against this project. How would Detroit respond if all the Coal Miners came and tried to stop the production of automobils? Wal-Mart may not have had any ill will toward miners, but with their resources it’s hard for me to believe their corporate advisors didn’t know what they were inferring. If everyone is so dedicated to stopping the production of coal they should quit using power produced from coal and all of the bi-products. http://www.coaleducation.org/lessons/twe/bytree.htm
I wonder how long it will take for Wal-Mart to realize that almost 100% of the goods they sell in teh US come from a country almost 100% dependent on coal as their primary energy source-CHINA!!
I wonder how long it will take for Wal-Mart to realize that almost 100% of the goods they sell in the US come from a country almost 100% dependent on COAL as their primary energy source-CHINA!!
I don’t like Wal-Mart and that all its product comes from China but I do like saving energy. More coal-fired power plants is not our answer to conserving energy. Yes, we need the coal for most of our electrical needs at this day and time but we need to be working diligently towards establishing other means of substainable energy, especially in the Appalachian states. Coal is not a renewable energy and may not be around in 75 or 100 years to feed these plants. This is within our childrens and grandchildrens life span. I, for one, would like to know that their lives would be just as comfortable for them then as it it now (meaning having access to electriicity, clean water, etc.). Bickering back and forth about the coal issue is not solving anything. Work together, save energy, and be nice to each other.
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