Clean(ing) coal: The enthymematic qualities of images, editing and color in clean coal advertising.

摘要

Energy advertisements in the United States have increased in both prominence and political importance in recent years. The increasing pressure of environmental concerns requires energy companies to assert green credentials in order to avoid strict regulation. In response, industry is attempting to co-opt green rhetoric by suggesting that energy production and environmental protection are not in opposition. Appeals to "clean coal" highlight such a rhetorical tactic. The attempt by the coal industry to rebrand coal as "clean" is a political tactic to downplay environmental concerns and avoid regulation or backlash. A significant feature to the "clean coal" advertising campaign is its enthymematic dimension; inviting audiences to fill in assumptions about "progress" and "environmental stewardship." This thesis uses clean coal advertising as a case study to explore the enthymematic properties of images, particularly in editing and color. Investigating the visual rhetoric in clean coal advertising helps explore the tactics the fossil fuel industry uses to make arguments with images and contributes to rhetorical analysis of editing, images, and color..