deal Dominion made with the SCC to get a thumbs up for the Wise county (dirty) coal plant?

The power plant's moving ahead. There is absolutely nothing to celebrate here.

they knew ccs wouldn't be around for another decade.  

That's the first article I linked to in this post. Dominion admitted CCS wouldn't be around for decades, but was still trying to exploit it to sell the plant to politicians who desperately want to believe in CCS. Why? Because with CCS, they can tell people in SW VA they love coal AND tell people in NoVA they support climate action. Without CCS, they have to choose between supporting coal and saving both our economy and the planet with clean energy. So far, most politicians in Richmond, no matter what part of the state they're from, have chosen coal.

Not trying to be flip at all but which is more important to the average Joe, the economy or clean energy? On balance I think this may become a sword in the Gneral election which I think if we come down on the "clean" or "climate change" side it could have a negative effect in the General given the current economy and that CCS is not even close to implementation. If Obama takes the CCS message to far he risks losing those regions that rely on coal in terms of local economies. When you talk about CCS being decades away---that message is taking "hope" to the extreme when people have to live right now in this economy and the environment message if perceived as anti-business in tone could hurt Obama's chances areas like PA,SWVA,WV,OH come November.

or the other.  You're correct that if a candidate creates a platform that's either "save the environment" OR "save your jobs", there will be a serious problem.

The reality can be (but currently isn't) that green collar jobs can address both economic and environmental problems.  Plus, a well rounded platform would include replacements for lost "dirty" jobs - like education programs so people can branch out into other jobs, economic incentive programs that promote tourism in beautiful mountain areas rather than strip mining, and so on.

It's certainly possible to make great strides forward in environmental protections/improvements without sacrificing people's income.  It'll take innovative ideas, the will to make it happen, and the ability to tune out the businesses and lobbyists whose sole purpose is to keep the status quo.  But it most certainly can be done.

The Clean Air Act was proposed much in the same way that folks are going about trying to move forward this agenda and the promises of better jobs, economic investment and tourism were given back then and the net result was a loss of significant jobs that were never replaced. We have to remember that these areas are not like urban areas where there is an influx of new people and voters; these areas are third and fourth generation coal/energy families that have been abandoned before by environmental policy and Washington in particular.

"tried" before and didn't work, the question that needs to be asked is why.  Is it because the concept simply won't/can't work?  Or maybe just couldn't work 25 years ago - we've got new technology and (in some cases) new leadership in business and government.  Was it grandstanding politicians who never made a real effort at the project?  Are today's politicians going to do anything more than grandstand?

I think there are far too many moving parts to this concept to say anything simply won't work because it didn't in the past.   And because global warming has become a critical issue (jobs always have been a critical issue) we simply can not give up on a solution that addresses both.

Studies show the Clean Air Act cost America a total of 4,000 jobs ... all lousy coal jobs. Are you saying it was a travesty that we cleaned our air and preserved our forests at a cost of 4,000 jobs? Would you not make that trade again in a heartbeat?

Why does Average Joe have to choose between the economy and clean energy? Hasn't Average Joe been reading article after article about how rising oil prices are hurting our economy? You're trying to tell Average Joe that the way to fix that is ... by keeping us hooked on imported coal and imported oil? I just learned tonight that America is a net importer of steam coal.

I certainly shouldn't be telling the Average Joe to have faith in something that has not even been implemented. The politcians as referenced above are trying to have it both ways, one way in NVA and one way on the ground in these areas. Sure CCS is a model for the future and the tech need to be worked out but to tell people on the ground "today" that it is a reality is the worst kind of politics ( call it the Katrina-effect). Are the jobs lost today that would result from the closure of coal plants and the impacts of real people on the ground as a direct result worth the political point given we will not be there (there words not mine) in decades.
Would like to see the data you refer to as Virginia lost 1/3 of its coal plants and all the jobs with them when many coal plants where closed due to the regulations of the Clean Air Act.
How can you expect to win over people in this region from VA to PA when you refer to their livelihoods as "lousy jobs". These families have contributed tremondously over the years to our State and nation. Just because you find yourself on the side of environmental activism does not mean one should demean or disrespect the work they perform.

You can also refer to the unemployment rate data for the region just five years after the passage of the Clean Air Act where these areas represent the highest areas of unemployment for the respective states by county/city. The rates more than tripled by the mid 1990's. The new jobs or replacement jobs that were preached to these folks never came, alas the training probably did not materialize either.
Furthermore, when we talk about coal jobs activists also also seem to want to ignore that 2/3 of Va class I rail traffic is coal related. Any decrease or significant move against coal could also result in those jobs as wll as the jobs at the ports being lost. Who performs those jobs? I keep hearing out of OH that it was these folks with similar jobs that supported Clinton in the Primary and I think that is significant.

this way is all the more reason Governor Kaine has got to kill this thing!