Today, Sen. Joe Biden’s criticism of “dirty coal plants,” first reported by TP’s Wonk Room, was picked up by the Drudge Report. The McCain campaign held a press call this afternoon with former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) and mining industry lobbyist Scott McInnis (R-CO) to attack Biden’s comments. But McCain himself attacked coal plants last week, saying they “will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.” In a Sept. 15 townhall meeting, McCain voiced opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining, then continued:
We’re going to build new plants that generate energy, my friends, we’re going to build them. We’ve got to. There’s an increased demand for it. And it seems to me, it’s going to be coal, which I believe will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, or it’s going to be nuclear, or it’s going to be clean coal technology.
Watch it:
Carbon capture and sequestration (sometimes described as “clean coal” technology) is still in development, and McCain has called fighting global warming part of his “top priority” of national security. Is McCain saying “no” to new coal? For more, go to the Wonk Room.