Clean Coal

On first impression, I felt that This is Reality is presenting a much more emotional appeal. It's a very slick and professional website, but it's professional in the sense of marketing, not substance. This is Reality bombards with quotes from EPA officials trashing the idea of "clean" coal technology, but seems to be able to ever give context to these discussions.

On the other hand, America's Power gives much more detailed information from the start, however it's bulky opening page and drab layout give the reader too much information at one time. Instead, they have opted to give readers the option to choose from seemingly endless accounts of information without, again , contextualizing why and how this information is pertinent to their beliefs.

Obviously, in the case of This Is Reality they are speaking to younger more active audiences in how their website is set up. Every link seemingly can send you to their "Join Now!" section and the layout is simple for the tech-savvy generation. America's Power appeals to a much more business minded group of people who are less concerned with saving the world and more concerned with saving a little bit of money.

This Is Reality shows the issue at hand is that the use of "clean" coal is a misnomer. They appeal this point by presenting numerous statements by different governmental agencies and authorities concerned with environmental affairs as being opposed to the idea that coal by its very nature can ever be clean. The website encourages that readers look and oppose this obvious attempt to "greenwash" something that is inherently not green.

With America's Power, they want to argue that "clean" doesn't mean 100% pure. They recognize the inability of the coal industry to remove all toxic pollutants in the production of coal, but they appeal to the idea that it is 77% cleaner than ever before. Their logical arguments stem from the idea that coal, while its getting cleaner, also substantially helps save money on energy costs. So while This Is Reality attacks the idea that coal is harmful environmentally, America's Power argues that it is beneficial economically.

On the whole I find that I'm split between the two websites. However, because the issue at hand is to show whether or not clean coal exists, America's Power fails to address the fact that there is no such thing as clean coal. In other words, 77% is clean, perhaps cleaner, but not clean. I feel as though This Is Reality hammers this point home effectively and their point is made clear through their effective use of the Coen brothers and the quotes from different professionals.