The Sidekick Chronicles, Lie #2: Support For Clean Coal

Last night, Biden said the following:

BIDEN: ... Barack Obama believes by investing in clean coal and safe nuclear, we can not only create jobs in wind and solar here in the United States, we can export it.

IFILL: Let me clear something up, Senator McCain has said he supports caps on carbon emissions. Senator Obama has said he supports clean coal technology, which I don't believe you've always supported.

BIDEN: I have always supported it. That's a fact.

BIDEN: ... [J]ust take a look at the record. My record for 25 years has supported clean coal technology.

However, take a look at this from the Weekly Standard and decide for yourself:

In Southwest Virginia on Sunday, Joe Biden told the United Mine Workers:

"I am a hard-coal miner, anthracite coal, Scranton, Pa.," Biden said. "It's nice to be back in coal country. … It's a different accent [in Southwest Virginia] … but it's the same deal. We were taught that our faith and our family was the only really important thing, and our faith and our family informed everything we did."

But Biden was singing quite a different tune while talking to an environmentalist in Ohio last week. Biden contradicted the Obama campaign's pledge to develop more clean coal plants, telling the activist that he and Barack Obama are "not supporting 'clean coal.' ... No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they're going to build them over there [in China] make 'em clean because they're killing you."

During a speech in Ohio today, John McCain dinged the Democratic ticket on Biden's opposition to clean coal. The Obama-Biden campaign responded that McCain's remarks were "another ham-handed lying attack from the McCain campaign." Biden spokesman David Wade added: "This is yet another false attack from a dishonorable campaign."

The Obama-Biden campaign's hysterical (and false) reaction that McCain is "lying" shows that they're afraid that Biden's remarks could do some significant damage. This Department of Energy map shows that coal is found in a lot of swing states:

Video support here.

Apparently, Biden supported it before he opposed it, then went back to supporting it last night.  Yes, we should look at your record, Senator.  It shows you to be an opportunist and a liar.

There's my two cents.