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Whichever way the Michigan Republican primary goes—and we'll know soon enough—something very noteworthy has occurred on the climate and energy front.

Due to this particular dynamics of this race, which has been set in the backyard of the ailing American auto industry just after the U.S. Congress voted to increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, the two frontrunners John McCain and Mitt Romney have been trading multiple barbs over climate and energy policy.

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A coal industry front group called the "Americans for Balanced Energy Choices" (ABEC), is one of the lead sponsors for tonight's CNN Democratic presidential debate.

ThinkProgress wonders whether candidates will be grilled on where they stand on the issue of "clean coal" electrical generation - which by all accounts remains the dirtiest form of energy production in the United States.

At least ABEC is honest about who funds them, their website states that, "primary funding for ABEC’s outreach efforts come from America’s coal-based electricity providers." And a list of their supporters can be found on their site here.

But any praise for their attempts at disclosure ends there.

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Presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton has just released an aggressive and comprehensive plan to fight climate change and significantly curb the US addiction to foreign oil.

The plan called "Powering America's Future: Hillary Clinton's Plan to Address the Energy and Climate Crisis" proposes to:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050 — the level necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.
• Cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from projected levels by 2030.
• Transform our carbon-based economy into an efficient green economy, creating at least 5 million jobs from clean energy over the next decade.

Grist lays out the entire plan here.