Scholastic severs ties with coal industry

Coincidentally, just as Coal Cares was embarrassing the U.S. coal industry, a group called Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood was launching a campaign to embarrass Scholastic, the children's books publisher, into severing its ties with the coal industry.

The CCFC's campaign worked—see Scholastic Severs Ties With the Coal Industry. Josh Golin, an activist with CCFC, credits the coincidental timing of the Coal Cares release with helping achieve this success, and views Coal Cares as a brilliant tactic for reaching the general public. "Their creativity is inspiring to the rest of us who work in traditional ways to influence policy," says Golin.