Media Jump on Coal Bankruptcy Story, CNN Defends Obama
After we and many other news and opinion websites reported about statements made by Sen. Barack Obama about the coal industry and energy prices in general, several major American media picked the story up.
CBS News reported about the statements Obama made to the San Fransisco Chronicle in January of this year saying he would “bankrupt” any energy plants driven by coal. This while coal provides for about half of America’s energy.
Additionally, the coal industry is big in several key battleground states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania
Not only did the media report about Obama’s statemetents, Governor Sarah Palin also used them on the campaign trail yesterday. “He said that, sure, if the industry wants to build coal-fired power plants, then they can go ahead and try, he says, but they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry, and he’s comfortable letting that happen,” Palin said. “And you got to listen to the tape.”
CNN picked the story up as well, albeit in a highly biased manner. The headline of the article at CNN is “Palin knocks Obama on months old coal comment.” Thereby implying that months make the story old news and unworthy of reporting. Since, however, the comments were never published by any media source until yesterday, the coal comments are significant. Additionally, one wonders since when “months” is considered “old” when it comes to the views and plans of politicians. Before Obama, months was considered a short time.
Not only that, CNN also tries to minimize the story by saying that John McCain too favors clean coal. Sure, but the point of the story is not that Obama favors clean coal or caps: it is that he wants to bankrupt companies that do not play along with him and that he does not want to take time developing cleaner energy but, instead, wants to ruin entire industries in order to pursue a highly ideological agenda. CNN knows this, of course, yet decided to downplay the significance of Obama’s remarks, thereby once again proving it is not a shadow of what it once was.
The West Virginia Record, meanwhile also picked the story up, quoting a Virginian coal industry leader calling Obama’s statements “unbelievable.”
“His comments are unfortunate,” Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said Sunday, “and really reflect a very uninformed voice and perspective to coal specifically and energy generally.”
“I think this clearly shows the attitude the Obama-Biden ticket has toward coal,” Ben Beakes said Sunday. “Rhetoric is cheap, but behind closed doors what they tell their supporters – that’s what we have to take as gospel.
“They’re definitely not friends of coal.”
“And their cohorts in Congress make similar statements,” Beakes said. “(Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said this summer that ‘coal makes us sick.’
“This is an attitude and view that, to me, shows their hatred of coal. And therefore, their view would cost West Virginians thousands upon thousands of jobs.”
Although there is only a short amount of time to go until people go vote, this story could very well play a significant role in some of the most important battleground states. West Virginia is a coal state, as are Ohio, Pennsylvania and others. This story is getting coverage at a time when most trustworthy polls show that Obama has been unable to close the deal is major battleground states.
All in all, Obama is still likely to win, but yesterday’s news and today’s coverage of it, may very well cost Obama support and make the race closer than it was.
typical of CNN and most other MSM… report on the questioning of the story, not the question. The bias is so transparent.
Ohio Coal Association Says Obama Remarks Make It Clear: Obama Ticket Not Supportive of Coal
Last update: 10:42 a.m. EST Nov. 3, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov 03, 2008 /PRNewswire–USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association (OCA), today issued the following statement in response to just-released remarks from Senator Barack Obama about the nation’s coal industry.
“Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America’s coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.
“These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like ‘I haven’t been some coal booster’ and ‘if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them’ are extraordinarily misguided.
“It’s evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state’s voters.
“Senator Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short- sighted, inexperienced politician willing to say anything to get a vote. But today, the nation’s coal industry and those who support it have a better understanding of his true mission, to ‘bankrupt’ our industry, put tens of thousands out of work and cause unprecedented increases in electricity prices.
“In addition to providing an affordable, reliable source of low-cost electricity, domestic coal holds the key to our nation’s long-term energy security – a goal that cannot be overlooked during this time of international instability and economic uncertainty.
“Few policy areas are more important to our economic future than energy issues. As voters head to the polls tomorrow, it is essential they remember that access to reliable, affordable, domestic energy supplies is essential to economic growth and stability.”
The Ohio Coal Association (OCA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Ohio’s underground and surface coal mining producers. The OCA represents nearly 40 coal producing companies and more than 50 Associate Members, which include suppliers and consultants to the mining industry, coal sales agents and brokers and allied industries. The Ohio Coal Association is committed to advancing the development and utilization of Ohio coal as an abundant, economic and environmentally sound energy source.
SOURCE Ohio Coal Association
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved End of Story
Part of Obama’s platform is to invest in clean coal technology – but the big coal companies don’t want to do that – they want to build new, dirty plants, not invest in new technology. That’s where the OCA is coming from – fatcat coal companies that want to make more profit at the expense of the environment.
Obama also said in the same interview that he would cause energy prices to skyrocket. 50 percent of electricity is from coal. Why doesn’t the “Media Who Loves The One” ask him what is his definition of ’skyrocketing prices’? Even if Obama gives me a tax cut, I will have to spend it ALL on electricity.
Right MVDG, “Dirty coal” is the method that is in place now. So, why punish a company (and consumers) for opeining up a new plant using this methodology. Sure, of course I would prefer clean coal and solar and tide and wind and nuclear, but if demand for electricity is rising, you need a practical approach to nip the problem in the bud. If that means dirty coal for a while, so be it. Practicality and lower prices for consumers for some reason do not seem to resonate with those that oppose dirty coal, it seems that ideology is all that matters.
Susan, no where in that interview does Obama say his policies will cause energy prices to skyrocket. McCain and Obama’s coal policies are very similar.
SV: If the environmental effects are as detrimental as scientists suggest, we all lose – achievers, laggards, and everyone in between.
You can draw a direct analogy with infrastructure with this country – if you don’t make the right investments, it falls apart. Are we willing to make the necessary investments in clean energy technologies to avoid further global warming?
Maybe I’m wrong and climate change is a myth. I hope so – but what if I (and 99% of scientists) are right?
If this was such a genuine concern, McCain would’ve had the smarts to turn this into an issue during the debates instead of waiting until the 11th hour. But, of course, he would’ve then been forced to explain why he was on the Senate floor adamantly defending his coal proposal, one that Senator Voinovich attacked as a job-killer. To his credit, McCain–who was once a decent man–didn’t deny it. Those are the facts. If you haven’t been astute enough to watch C-Span, pull up the clip on YouTube.
he McCain camp is misrepresenting Obama’s coal comments. In fact, McCain and Obama hold the same position on coal.
What the McCain camp is not giving you from the original tape:
Obama: “But this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion. Because the fact of the matter is is that right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal. And China is building a coal-powered plant once a week. So what we have to do then is figure out how can we use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon.”
Obama and Biden on Clean Coal: Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology. Carbon capture and storage technologies hold enormous potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as we power our economy with domestically produced and secure energy. As a U.S. Senator, Obama has worked tirelessly to ensure that clean coal technology becomes commercialized. An Obama administration will provide incentives to accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale zero-carbon coal facilities. In order to maximize the speed with which we advance this critical technology, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will instruct DOE to enter into public private partnerships to develop 5 “first-of-a-kind” commercial scale coal-fired plants with carbon capture and sequestration.
Obama Passed An Amendment Supported by Biden To Add $200M For Carbon Capture And Sequestration Technology In Senate’s FY 2008 Budget. Obama was the chief sponsor of an amendment to the 2008 Senate Budget resolution that added $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy. [SA 599 to SCR 21, Agreed to by Unanimous Consent, 3/23/07]
Biden Proposed Energy Plan That Would Invest In Technologies To Use Coal More Cleanly. In 2007, Biden proposed an energy plan, “Joe Biden supports more than $50 billion in new incentives for research into: alternative fuel and energy sources, renewable energy technology, nuclear waste management and safety, and carbon capture and sequestration technologies that could allow us to use coal cleanly.” [Biden for President Press Release, 11/20/07]
Source: http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=43762b42-8e1c-4ad9-9a0e-3c63383449fb
I think the rise in business electricity prices is having a terrible effect on all sorts of businesses “along with the credit crunch” but there is still some good deals out there but someone somewhere has to do something.