Both Clinton and Obama are stumping for "clean coal" up and down the coal State of West Virginia today.

And both Presidential hopefuls include the capture and storage of "clean coal" greenhouse gas emissions in their policy platforms.

Duke Energy has been approved to build a next generation coal plant that could eventually be fitted with carbon sequestration technology.

The 630 Megawatt plant, which will gasify coal using integrated gasification combined cycle technology. The process separates out regulated pollutants, such as mercury, as well as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Ever wonder why so many former climate change "skeptics" are now saying that global warming is real and we should think about doing something?

For many it's a delay tactic. Lacking the scientific evidence to continue to deny what is so obviously a reality, some people are moving on to new PR tactics.

One such tactic has been uncovered by Dave Roberts at Grist.

American Electric Power, a major electric utility, is set to announce the largest demonstration yet of capturing carbon dioxide from a coal-fired power plant and pumping it deep underground. Experts consider the approach, known as sequestration, essential to reining in climate change by barring gas from the atmospheric blanket that promotes global warming.

Treehugger has a good post today about carbon sequstration and why it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Drawing heavily on Tim Flannery's book, The Weather Makers, they argue that

All this talk of carbon sequestration can basically be seen as a delaying tactic, as a way to get government support and to keep the operation and construction of coal power plants more socially acceptable. It's the equivalent of saying: "Don't bother us, we're working on it!"

Furthermore, they suggest,

As a society civilization species, we must back the right horse and stop being misled by the coal industry's delaying tactics. There's a big opportunity cost in time and resources to going down the wrong path. Each new power plant big coal builds means decades of fat profit for it, but for the rest of us here on Earth, it's just bad, bad news.

Check it out and decide for yourself.