The Democrats’ Lump of Coal

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton agree on many issues, but it’s a bit surprising to see two candidates who’ve talked so much about the climate crisis and a new green economy tout their love of coal. Obama has an ad up in Kentucky that claims “Barack understands” the plight of the coal industry, while Clinton has promised voters in the state she would put more money into coal programs.

To be fair, both candidates favor “clean coal,” a concept that has become less controversial in recent years.

Lexington Herald-Leader:

The commercial highlights Obama’s key accomplishment as pushing a provision in 2007 to provide $200 million for clean coal technology. The proposal—sponsored by Obama and four others, including Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning—was passed unanimously as an amendment to the 2008 budget resolution.

[...] Clinton also prominently mentioned coal in her speech to Kentucky Democrats in Louisville Friday night.

“We’re sitting on a huge natural resource,” she said, before pledging to invest more federal funds in sequestering carbon dioxide from coal power plants.

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