Brian,

You wrote, " Katetex, if we can burn clean coal, it's better than burning coal."

Please read about mountain top removal and so-called "clean coal" from a source other than the coal companies! This may actually have something to do with why Obama came in with such low numbers in W VA. People have been suffering in this region for a very long time, most recently and especially because of the processes being used to "efficiently" blow off the tops of entire mountains, dig out the coal (same coal, different method), and then "wash" the dust off the coal, making it "clean" with what used to be beautiful rivers and streams running through all the former gulches--now walled up by what was blown off the top and filled with filthy black water ready at any moment to come down on top of the communities below.

I lived near that region back in the 80's and left a very lucrative engineering job with GE when they told me my next assignment would be to develop control systems for the equipment to destroy some of the oldest mountains in the world.

In fact, Obama's suggestions about "clean" coal (no such thing, sir) and "safe" nuclear power (again, no such thing), were the only reservations I had about voting for him. I am happy to report that he has done what I expect of such an intelligent man who clearly is open to learning and getting information from all sides--he has changed his position on nuclear power, and he has also recently talked about ensuring that we move away from ALL fossil fuels, including coal.

You also said, "Obama can at least understand this reality and is open to finding the best solutions that exist. This is the type of realistic leadership this country needs."

This is where you and I completely agree! I believe Obama has the most flexible mind and the best leadership abilities of any candidate that has run in this election. He even has the strength (and considerable political courage) to refute his own positions when he gains new information from experts.

You are right that the current U.S. capabilities with solar panels and wind generation are not nearly enough to solve our problems. But you may not be noticing the literally hundreds of separate projects going on with entirely feasible solutions-ranging from biofuels made with fast growing algae that can be farmed in small spaces to nano circuit infused solar paint being developed in Germany that can turn an entire home or office building into a generation station. In Seattle, as in Western Oregon where I live, you see the effects of ocean waves every day--wave generation for electricity is also a very promising technology.

The only thing keeping these technologies and hundreds more like them from being fully brought to market is the lack of political will from those tied to lobbying from Big Oil and other multinational corporate industries. Obama holds the promise of not only NOT being beholden to the majority of this slime, but of being willing to give the high levels of government funding that will be necessary to make these technologies viable as replacements for oil, coal and nuclear.

Nowhere in this article is it mentioned that the so-called "clean coal" being produced comes from literally blasting the tops off of entire mountains in West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Virginia. Not content with the destructive, polluting practice of digging deeper and deeper holes, all the while threatening the lives of everyone who works in the mines, the coal companies began long ago with first "strip mining" the soil off the very tops of the mountains and then plain blowing the mountains into rubble.

Then they take the rubble, throw it down into the gulch next to what used to be a mountain, on top of what once was a clear stream, and make a water containment dike out of the former mountaintop. Water that once ran free--maybe for generations of people who lived in that gulch, the only source of drinking water--now is held captive in this containment area and used to wash the coal so it isn't so dusty. The water, which turns completely black and foul, then remains held--millions of gallons of it--precariously above the community below, held back only by a pile of loose rubble that could (and sometimes does) break through. THAT, my friends, is "clean coal".

How do I know? Well, for one, I was a control systems design engineer for General Electric in Pennsylvania, and I left the company flat out when they told me my next assignment would be to design control systems for this travesty.

The people of this region and some of the most beautiful land in the world are being, once again, terribly exploited so the rest of us can imagine ourselves to be "green" and "clean".

Can we just cover the world with solar panels? Well, there are solar roof tiles, nanotech solar paint, and other solar products being developed right now that only require some strong government level investment to bring to market--we have covered the world with houses and other buildings. Let's now cover those buildings with solar and make them truly worth their space.

Algae is being developed that can provide large amounts of biofuel in relatively small space with little energy invested. Fibers can be made from bamboo, hemp, and other fast growing plants rather than destroying forests (as is happening in the Pacific Northwest where I live) or using oil.

There are MANY options--all it takes is some vision. But there is nothing "clean" about coal.