Penn Watch

Bloomberg reports:

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed on Feb. 27 more research funds for new energy technology, including "clean" coal systems. The next day, Mark Penn, her top campaign strategist, had a different take on coal.

In an internal blog at his other job, as chief executive officer of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, Penn wrote of how Burson worked "behind the scenes" for TXU Corp., a Texas company seeking to build power plants fueled by pulverized coal, which some environmentalists say would be major polluters.

More to the point, it seems to me, is that so-called "clean" coal is more-or-less a scam -- it's still got all those carbon emissions. It's a scam, however, that a lot of politicians adopt because they want to win votes in coal country. Certainly, it's the sort of scam a political consultant might tell you that you absolutely must adopt to stay politically viable. And if that consultant also just so happens to be on the payroll of coal companies well, then, I think you can see where a problem might arise.