"No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there. Make them clean."Now in all fairness, he may have been thinking that the plants in question produce clean coal, but it's possible he's still working from a Clinton-era memo."We're not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama.
Clean coal is a geological phenomenon akin to finding a mineral in an unusually pure state. This coal can be burned in the older power plants, and produces significantly less pollutants than the more common stuff, which may contain sulfur, mercury, uranium or whatever. There are two such deposits that I'm aware of, one in Indonesia, and one in Utah.
California imports the stuff from Indonesia to burn in their power plants in an attempt to avoid having to close the plants on account of emissions. The mine in Indonesia is owned and operated by the Riadi family, who have become fabulously wealthy selling coal to California.
When the Utah deposit was discovered, and even promised to be larger than the one in Indonesia, the Riadis did what any aggressive capitalist would do, they lobbied the President (Bill Clinton) for protection. With a big enough campaign contribution, all things are possible, and the area in Utah with the coal was declared a national monument.
No drilling for oil, no digging for coal.
The party is apparently opposed to producing any energy from any source whatsoever. It's a good thing most of our jobs aren't dependent on energy usage, and our houses stay warm all by themselves.
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