Cool on Coal

We told you earlier about Barack's plan, laid out in his own words, to squeeze the coal industry into bankruptcy in order to save the planet. Sarah Palin went after him for that today.

“He said that, sure, if the industry wants to build coal-fired power plants, then they can go ahead and try, he says, but they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry, and he's comfortable letting that happen,” Palin said. “And you got to listen to the tape.”

Barack made the comment last January in a conversation with the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Why is the audiotape just now surfacing?” Palin asked, leading someone in the crowd to shout, “Liberal media!”

“This interview was given to San Francisco folks many, many months ago,” Palin said. “You should have known about this, so that you would have better decision-making information as you go into the voting booth.”

This has to do with saving the planet, you know.

In the audiotape, Obama reiterated his call for a cap and trade system on carbon and greenhouse gases.

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can,” Obama said. “It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.”

The Obama camp disputes Palin's assertion.

“The point Obama is making is that we need to transition from coal burning power plants built with old technology to plants built with advanced technologies--and that is exactly the action that will be incentivized under a cap and trade program,” the spokesperson said. “We know that additional work is necessary to develop and deploy these technologies. That is why Obama has argued for a robust funding program for carbon capture and sequestration. It’s strikingly similar to what McCain has said (in fact McCain goes a step further saying he wants to transition completely away from coal).”

Joe, Again!

Joe Biden is having so much fun in this campaign, it seems he's forgotten that he's the candidate for Vice President. Thus, we add a third confusion today from Joe, who says no to any new coal plants. This contradicts Barack's position - the campaign website says that the pair would "Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology."

Some great rope line video from Joe Biden's recent Ohio swing, where he was
asked by an anti-pollution campaigner about clean coal -- a controversial
approach in Democratic circles for which Obama has voiced support, particularly during the Kentucky primary.

Biden's apparent answer: He supports clean coal for China, but
not for the United States.

"No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there. Make them clean." "We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama. They do, on paper, support clean coal.

The answer seems to play into John McCain's case that Obama has been saying "no" to new sources of energy.

In the primary, Biden opposed Obama's push for clean coal, which is seen as a way of maintaining or expanding America's coal-burning power plants -- many of which are in rust belt swing states.