Page 134 - Carbon Capitalism and Communication Confronting Climate Crisis

10 FIGHTING FOR COAL: PUBLIC RELATIONS … 123

industry has became very adept at taking full credit for the indirect
benefits of mining while distancing themselves from any responsibility for
the indirect costs.
Following their aggressive and successful campaign against the Rudd
government in 2010, the mining lobby decided to increase its proactive
charm strategies of community sponsorship and engagement. Neil
Lawrence was once again employed by the Minerals Council to create a
mass advocacy advertising campaign, with the goal of reframing some of
the negative issues associated with the industry. To this end, Lawrence
Creative refreshed and enhanced the MCA’s campaign ‘NewGenCoal’,
creating a website and video to promote the science of carbon capture and
storage (CCS), or ‘clean coal’, as the technological solution to climate
change. The website featured scientists and industry experts who provided
upbeat interviews about the powers of CCS technology. However, their
statements failed to disclose that many of these ‘independent’ experts were
in fact funded or employed by the coal industry (Pearse et al. 2013,
p. 103).
This coal-specific campaign was greatly enhanced by a new national
campaign that began in early 2011. Under the banner ‘Mining: This is Our
Story’, Lawrence Creative produced a series of sophisticated advertise-
ments for broadcast, print and online media, which convincingly posi-
tioned mining as a central support for the Australian way of life. These
advertisements focused on the individual and personalized stories of ‘ev-
eryday hardworking Australians’, and sought to actively counter the per-
ception that mining was an industry dominated by white, working class
males. One of these lengthy advertisements focused on champion cyclist
Anna Mears, and how BHP Billton’s sponsorship and support had inspired
her comeback from a bad cycling accident. Another featured the story of
‘average mining employee’ Heather, whose employment with the mining
company allowed her to live the Australian dream of career, family, tropical
lifestyle and harmonious home life. Other advertisements promoted the
mining industry’s positive impact on the lives of migrant workers, featuring
the stories of men and women from Asian, Islamic and French back-
grounds. Another advertisement sought to counter public perceptions
regarding potential conflicts between mining companies and Indigenous
Australians, by featuring the story of an Indigenous chemical engineer
whose career in the mining industry was allowing him to live a life that
made his mother ‘proud’.