The clean coal kerfuffle
Posted: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 1:29 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Joe Biden
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy and Mike Memoli
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- While the press is abuzz about rumors of McCain’s first press conference today since August 13, his campaign is pushing a very different talking point -- the Obama-Biden campaign’s alleged opposition to clean coal.
After receiving the endorsement of the International Union of Operating Engineers’ Local 18 in Strongsville this morning, McCain gave a brief statement to the media, saying that clean coal would be a large part of his job-creation agenda.
“One important way that we are going to create jobs here is with the development of additional nuclear power plants and through investments in clean coal technology,” he said. “We will invest as much as two billion dollars a year to develop clean coal technology. America sits on the world’s largest coal reserves and we have to use it. Clean coal technology is the best way.”
He then pointed to an exchange that Biden had with a questioner last week in Ohio, which is now making the rounds in the form of a YouTube video. When asked why he is supporting clean coal when “wind and solar are flourishing” in Ohio, Biden said that his ticket wasn’t supporting increased use of coal.
“We're not supporting ‘clean coal,’” Biden said. “Guess what -- China's building two every week. Two dirty coal plants. And it's polluting the United States. It's causing people to die... No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they're going to build them over there make 'em clean because they're killing you.”
Biden spokesman David Wade released a statement, saying that the Obama-Biden ticket does indeed support clean coal: Biden’s “point is that China is building coal plants with outdated technology every day, and the United States needs to lead by developing clean coal technologies.”
Biden's comments aside, moreover, Obama has always supported clean coal. Here's what he said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention: "As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power."
Still, McCain said this is a point of distinction between himself and his opponents. “My opponent is against the expansion of nuclear power,” he said. “His running mate here in Ohio recently said that they weren’t supporting clean coal, either. And the fact is that their billions of dollars in higher taxes would kill jobs here in Ohio. That’s not what Ohio needs and that’s not what America needs.” (Note: As Obama said in his convention speech, he hasn't ruled out expanding nuclear power.)
McCain’s campaign also quickly announced the formation of the “McCain-Palin campaign's Coalition to Protect Coal Jobs,” which was announced today on a conference call including West Virginia Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, former Virginia Gov. and Sen. George Allen, former Colorado Rep. Scott McInnis, and RNC Chairman Mike Duncan.
