When I first visited the Clean Coal web-site, I noticed that it was very simple. It featured a white background, with soft colors and a professional looking lay-out. The web-site also featured a few individuals who work within the coal and electric industries. The web site attempts to appeal to the average person who wants to learn more about clean coal. There are many statistics and facts about clean coal technology and the research that is being done to improve coal. The "This is Reality" web-site was much more different. The first image on the web-sie is of a cartoon yellow canary. It is bright yellow and contrasted with a dark, black background. This is somewhat a metaphor to the "clean" coal notion, as if to say that coal is actually not clean at all. There are factoids about clean coal that are presented on the screen, all of which feature the canary flying into them and then falling to the ground shortly after. This web-site uses humor to try and convey their message, that clean coal in fact doesn't exist. The clean coal web-site appeals more to me because it is more professional looking, and seems to have more sources of information to back up it's research.
The clean coal web-site is attempting to argue that clean coal is currently 77% cleaner than regular coal. This is based off of how much emissions and CO2 are released into the atmosphere. This stat is based on five pollutants and has been compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to thisisreality.org, this is not the case. Th web-site states that burning coal is the dirtiest way to produce electricity. It continues to state that coal cannot be considered "clean" until it's CO2 emissions are captured and stored safely. At the moment, there are no coal producing plants that are doing this, according to the web-site.
The audience for both sites is anyone who may be interested in learning about clean coal research or finding some facts about clean coal. The sponsor of the americaspower website happens to be the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. This coalition is made up of the industries involved in producing electricity from coal, which makes sense as to why the web-site is pro clean coal. Thisisreality.org is made up of groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, League of COnservation Voters, and the Sierra Club. Both web-sites are clearly influenced by their sponsors, and one can easily differentiate which side of the argument the web-site is on. Thisisreality.org taps into the environmentalist side, using the canary as a sort of mascot. The americaspower.com web-site uses actual people in the industry to give their web-site a more personal feeling. It uses a lot of graphs, maps, and charts to get their main points and statistics conveyed to their audience. Thisisreality.org uses the canary on each page, and each animation vary. I enjoyed watching the canary do different things as it flew into each different fact. However, the americaspower we-site seemed more credible because of the way it was set up.
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You have some really good points in the way the websites are both portrayed. I agree with your point that America's Power site does have a lot of facts and this can be good. Also you have really good facts that you pulled off the site such as "clean coal is 77% cleaner than regular coal." However, what do you think about the way coal is being used? I believe that the current and future technology to make coal cleaner is important, but should we look for other fuel sources?
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