Reply #13: Well, they're the Democratic nominees

[Marie26]

This is Democratic Underground. You can hardly flame someone for repeating something our own nominee told us. Biden actually opposed "clean coal" until he became the VP nominee & had to change his tune. I agree that it's BS, though. Would it kill them to bring up electric cars? Wind technology? Anything else?

Coal Mining

"Both presidential candidates are big promoters of clean coal, and after taking a look at the political contributions that the coal industry has given, it’s easy to see why. This year alone, the coal mining industry has given $1,704,932 to Republicans and $768,498 to Democrats. The industry clearly favors McCain, who’s so far received $78,596 in campaign contributions, while Obama has received only $12,900. Despite the paltry figure, Obama knows that the coal issue sways voters (particularly in West Virginia and Kentucky), which is probably why he’s such a cheerleader for clean coal technology lately (though his running mate Joe Biden is a bit tougher on the issue, strongly arguing that clean coal doesn’t have a place in the US.)

McCain has also put on the pom-poms for coal, even making a special visit to Consol, one of the country’s largest coal producers, to take a tour of its research facilities where engineers are trying to perfect a way to burn waste coal using high-pressure cylinders. “Coal is America's greatest natural resource, as far as energy is concerned,” McCain gushed after touring the facility."

http://www.plentymag.com/features/2008/09/whos_giving_money_to_which_pre.php