Biden Waves Bye-Bye to West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania

Joe Biden may turn out to be the an even more valuable pick for VP than Sarah Palin...for the GOP. Biden is now up to a gaffe-or-more-a-day and his strident declaration against clean coal could lose his team valuable support in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania:

Some great rope line video from Joe Biden's recent Ohio swing, where he was asked by an anti-pollution campaigner about clean coal -- a controversial approach in Democratic circles for which Obama has voiced support, particularly during the Kentucky primary.

Biden's apparent answer: He supports clean coal for China, but not for the United States.

"No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there. Make them clean."

"We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama. They do, on paper, support clean coal.

The answer seems to play into John McCain's case that Obama has been saying "no" to new sources of energy.

In the primary, Biden opposed Obama's push for clean coal, which is seen as a way of maintaining or expanding America's coal-burning power plants -- many of which are in rust belt swing states.

"I don't think there's much of a role for clean coal in energy independence, but I do think there's a significant role for clean coal in the bigger picture of climate change," he told Grist last year. "Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives," he said, but added that America should push for a "fundamental change in technology" to clean up China's plants. ...

Today, Senator John McCain pounced on Biden's remarks.

"I am going to put in place the priorities and policies that will create jobs in Ohio. One important way that we are going to create jobs here is with the development of additional nuclear plants and through investments in clean coal technology," he said.

"[Obama's] running mate here in Ohio recently said that they weren’t supporting clean coal."

It gets better:

But the error here does seem to be Biden's, and his remarks, and his apparent return to his primary position Tuesday, were striking because just three days ago, he praised the possibilities of coal to a crowd at the United Mine Workers of America annual fish fry in Castlewood, Va.

Biden's newfound position on clean coal also conflicts with Obama's statement supporting clean coal during his Greek Temple speech.

PolitickerPA has more on Pennsylvania's coal situation:

• Most anthracite coal is found in Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania has 29 billion tons of coal reserves, or 6.1% of the country's reserves.
• The combined direct and indirect contributions of the coal industry to Pennsylvania's economy are more than $10 billion.
• Using more than 57 million tons, Pennsylvania ranks fourth in coal use.
• Pennsylvania employs more than 9,300 miners.
• Pennsylvania distributes more than 75 million tons of coal each year.
• Pennsylvania has 82 underground mines and 225 surface mines.
• About 58% of the electricity used in Pennsylvania is produced by coal.
• Pennsylvania produces about 7% of the country's coal supply.
• Pennsylvania has 23 coal-fired power plants.

The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and placing that resource off limits is simply foolish. In other words, it's a typically Democrat position.