Lots of reaction to the remarks by Senator Barack Obama to the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board in January saying that the coal industry and utilities could never build a new coal-fired power plant because his Administration’s policies would “bankrupt” them.

The key quote from Sen. Obama:

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in wind, solar, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches. The only thing that I have said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

The reaction from Gov. Palin, campaigning in Marietta, Ohio.

Now a couple points on this: One is that here again, why is the audio tape just now surfacing? This interview was given to San Francisco folks many, many months ago. You should have known about this, so that you would have better decision-making information as you go into the voting booth.

The value of the information is unquestionable, but the interview had been on the Chronicle’s SFGate website since January, which hardly seems like suppression. Instead, it appears that the Chronicle’s reporters and editors missed the news. Hardly a surprise: In California, killing off productive sectors of the economy is considered sport. They probably just didn’t recognize that Senator Obama’s position was all that unusual. Candidates and Congress demonize and single out the oil industry for punitive tax and regulatory policies, what makes coal that special?

On the other hand, you would have expected someone from the RNC or McCain campaign to listen to the interview at some point and identify the issue, perhaps bringing it up in a debate or a campaign ad. We used to hear about something called “opposition research.” Apparently it’s gone out of fashion.

The Obama campaign responded, as reported in the Charleston (W.V.) Daily Mail, calling the remarks “wildly edited” to take them out of context. Really? “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them…” From a campaign statement:

The point Obama is making is that we need to transition from coal-burning power plants built with old technology to plants built with advanced technologies-and that is exactly the action that will be incentivized under a cap-and-trade program.

So that’s what’s happening to all those banks and investment houses in the financial crisis. They’re “incentivizing” themselves.

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President Bush addressed the West Virginia Coal Association today. Transcript of his 30-minute remarks, which highlighted clean-coal technology:

This year — I mean, since we’ve been in office we’ve spent $2.5 billion on clean coal research. Why? Because it’s a good investment to make sure that an abundant supply of energy is available and is in use for a long time coming. That’s why we’re doing it.

This year alone we’ve requested nearly $650 million in the budget for advanced coal research. It’s the largest such request in 25 years. The funding is supported — is supporting the development of technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions that come from coal. This is something the industry wants the government to do. We want us to be on the leading edge of change. We want to be able to capture CO2. These advances obviously are going to make coal more environmentally friendly. It’ll make it easier for people to say, let’s use this abundant resource.

Today my administration announced $36 million for new carbon capture projects. In other words, it’s more than just research. We’re now beginning to get into the implementation stage of promising new technologies. And eventually the technology may allow us to prevent 90 percent of coal’s carbon emissions from being released into the environment.

Department of Energy news release.

Along with politically topical remarks about opening the OCS to energy development, the President also spent some time promoting nuclear power, including the government-industry partnership for more baseload power generation, Nuclear Power 2010.  A comprehensive approach, we like to say …

From Dana Perino’s White House press gaggle on board Air Force I, 11:40 a.m.

Then on Tuesday the President will travel to Cleveland, Ohio, to participate in a tour of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Incorporated. He will make remarks on energy and the economy there. And then he will also participate in another one of these Congressional Trust 2008 receptions, and that will be in Gates Mills, Ohio.

The NAM always appreciates the President’s visits to manufacturers, in this case, an NAM member, too.

Later in the week, the President also puts in a word for coal.

Then on Thursday he will have a photo opportunity with the Scouts in Action — I’m sorry, with the recipients of the Scouts in Action Commendation on the North Portico for still photographers. And then at 10:25 a.m. he will make remarks at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Coal Association; that’s in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.