Hamstringing Environmental Protection for Coal

This may be one of the most important things anyone's said yet about the Waxman-Markey climate bill, or ACES. Ken Ward Jr. writing at The Charleston Gazette shares a quote from the communications director of the United Mine Workers of America, Phil Smith:

As it stands now, the amount of money dedicated to coal in this bill is remarkable, and the future of coal will be intact.

There's also this, highlighted by David Sassoon at Solve Climate, from Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), a "lead negotiator for coal state Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee":

I've been working extensively to fashion a controlled program that Congress can adopt which will preserve coal jobs, create the opportunity for increasing coal production and keep electricity rates in regions like Southwest Virginia affordable. The compromise that I have reached with Chairman Waxman achieves those goals.

It doesn't seem unreasonable, as many have pointed out, that industry's weeping and wailing about this bill in public hides the fact that they know it's the best deal they're going to get.