‘Hashtags’, ‘trending topics’, ‘mentions’ ‘likes, ‘retweets’: the 21st century is distinctive for a range of new communication technologies, social practices and discourses that have framed public debate as “authentic”, “participatory”, “empowering” and “organic”. In this article, I explore a 21st century public relations (PR) campaign that is promoting neoliberal “solutions” to complex social and environmental problems, namely Burson-Marsteller’s 2014 campaign for coal industry client, Peabody Energy. The ‘Advanced Energy for Life’ (AEFL) ‘comprehensive global campaign’ to promote the idea of ‘clean coal’ in the alleviation of ‘energy poverty’ is but one in a succession of campaigns deployed by the coal industry since the 1980s. This article examines the reception of the AEFL campaign in Australia from January 2014 to March 2017. In doing so, it traces the movement of campaign tropes in the public sphere as well as prominent Twitter activity. It asks what purpose did the tropes serve and how they propelled debate. It also asks if resistance on Twitter can disrupt the ‘long period of suspended animation’ in public debate on energy policy. In tackling these questions with a critical lens, it aims to develop a greater understanding of the influence of global PR campaigns such as Peabody’s AEFL in public debate in contemporary settings.

中文翻译：

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“能源大战”：21世纪的全球公关和公众辩论

“主题标签”，“趋势主题”，“提及”，“喜欢”，“转推”：21世纪对于一系列新的传播技术，社会实践和话语具有独特性，这些传播技术将公众辩论归类为“真实的”，“参与性的”， “赋权”和“有机”。在本文中，我将探讨21世纪的公共关系（PR）运动，该运动正在推广针对复杂的社会和环境问题的新自由主义“解决方案”，即Burson-Marsteller在2014年针对煤炭行业客户Peabody Energy的运动。为减轻“能源贫困”而倡导“清洁煤”的“全球先进生命能源”（AEFL）“全面全球运动”只是自1980年代以来煤炭行业所开展的一系列运动中的一个。本文研究了2014年1月至2017年3月在澳大利亚举办的AEFL运动的情况。在此过程中，它追踪了公共领域竞选活动的动向以及推特活动的动向。它询问比喻的目的是什么，以及它们如何推动辩论。它还询问在公众对能源政策的辩论中，对Twitter的抵制是否会破坏“长期暂停动画”。通过批判性的眼光解决这些问题，其目的是加深对全球公关活动（如皮博迪的AEFL）在当代环境中的公开辩论中的影响的理解。