After Republican outrage and President Obama's near-defeat in West Virginia to a convicted felon currently serving time in federal prison, the Obama campaign has added clean coal to a list of energy priorities. Yahoo! news reports:
President Obama's campaign website added "clean coal" to a list of energy priorities late this week, days after Republican lawmakers noted the omission and a federal inmate received about 40 percent of the vote against Obama in the Democratic primary in coal-heavy West Virginia.
Previously, the campaign's website highlighted "fuel efficiency" on a list of seven energy priorities, but it has been replaced by "clean coal" where the site now touts Obama's "10-year goal to develop and deploy cost-effective clean coal technology." ...
The administration has come under fire from Republicans recently who allege that Obama has not shown enough support for coal, one of the nation's primary sources of energy. Under Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulations that include higher emission restrictions on coal plants.
In September 2008, Joe Biden told supporters on the campaign trail "we're not supporting clean coal. ... No coal plants here in America."