Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden both have said they support finding cleaner ways to burn coal. But during the campaign, Obama told a newspaper that electricity rates could soar under his energy plan, while Biden told a voter in Ohio that “we’re not supporting clean coal” — though he has said the U.S. should develop clean coal technology and export it to China.

“It’s the frustration of uncertainty, based probably on the lack of understanding of how important a component of America’s energy structure coal is,” Raney said.

Obama’s energy plan includes mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He also proposed a 10-year $150 billion fund for biofuels, wind, solar, plug-in hybrids, clean-coal technology and other “climate-friendly” measures, and would require utilities to produce 25 percent of power from renewable energy by 2025.

Sincerely,
California