I know this might not be anything new, but I recently noticed a trend in some of my collected photos of things energy-related: the branding of various legacy energy sources as “eco”. So far, I’ve seen gasoline, coal and ethanol branded as “eco-friendly”. No doubt you’ve seen the TV ads from BP, Chevron or Shell extolling their new “clean energy” initiatives; but have you seen the latest railcars or billboards?

Despite increasingly prolific evidence to the contrary, big energy companies seem to think that if they keep saying it enough, it will become true. “Coal: clean green energy.” Granted, West Virginia (and parts of Pennsylvania) *is* coal country, so nobody around here wants to see “old coal” go away. This was confirmed during my work in MacDowell County, WV. During interviews with the economic development agency and other locals, the loss of coal operations was spoken about as a huge blow to the state; losing the little bit that’s left would be seen as even worse. It’s been hard for people to find new jobs after working for coal companies all their lives. How is coal supposed to stay relevant in today’s eco-fetish society? (Besides China being a huge new consumer of coal–maybe not from West Virginia, but still…) Personally, I think coal is a struggling, but likely soon to die enterprise.

In my opinion, there’s clear winners in the alternative energy fest, and clear losers. Losers? Big coal. American auto companies (with crappy, unpopular hybrid offerings). Big winners? Asian automakers (think Prius. Think profit.). And ethanol. Ethanol’s all the buzz, and who’s on the “receiving end” of this huge revenue stream? Check out ADM’s stock performance. Not bad. Can’t beat those government subsidies, and fickle environmental trends both going your way–nothing’s better for the stock price!