CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain are duking it out over who will pump more government money into controversial plans to control greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Officials from both campaigns promise that their candidate backs "clean coal," will protect coal-mining jobs and ensure a priority spot for coal in the nation's energy future.

But both provide few details for their plans, and have not explained how they would overcome a long history of hurdles that have hampered the government's clean-coal program for decades.

The simmering issue boiled over a bit Tuesday, a week after McCain caught the coal industry by surprise when he came out against mountaintop removal coal mining.

McCain's campaign sponsored a conference call with coalfield journalists to call attention to what it said were anti-coal comments by Obama's running mate, Joe Biden.

The National Mining Association also pounced, criticizing Biden for "dismissing the vital role of clean-coal technology in meeting America's energy needs."

Carolyn Auwaerter, an activist with the group 1Sky, started this week's flurry of attacks when she confronted Biden about coal issues during a campaign appearance outside Toledo, Ohio.

"We're not supporting 'clean coal,'" Biden told Auwaerter, according to video posted by Wonk Room, a blog sponsored by the liberal Center for American Progress.

"But guess what? China is burning 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up," Biden continued. "Because it's going to ruin your lungs and there's nothing we can do about it.

"No coal plants here in America," Biden said. "Build them, if they're going to build them over there, make [them] clean because they're killing you."

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., harshly criticized Biden's comments during the McCain campaign's conference call.

"It was a very unscripted moment, but this is where you're speaking the truth, and your true feelings are coming out," Capito said. "To me, that's American jobs and West Virginia jobs. It's not realistic and it doesn't make sense."

David Wade, a spokesman for Obama, responded that such remarks are "yet another false attack from a dishonorable campaign."

"Senator Biden's point is that China is building coal plants with outdated technology every day, and the United States needs to lead by developing clean coal technologies," Wade said in an e-mail response to questions.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain are duking it out over who will pump more government money into controversial plans to control greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Officials from both campaigns promise that their candidate backs "clean coal," will protect coal-mining jobs and ensure a priority spot for coal in the nation's energy future.

But both provide few details for their plans, and have not explained how they would overcome a long history of hurdles that have hampered the government's clean-coal program for decades.

The simmering issue boiled over a bit Tuesday, a week after McCain caught the coal industry by surprise when he came out against mountaintop removal coal mining.

McCain's campaign sponsored a conference call with coalfield journalists to call attention to what it said were anti-coal comments by Obama's running mate, Joe Biden.

The National Mining Association also pounced, criticizing Biden for "dismissing the vital role of clean-coal technology in meeting America's energy needs."

Carolyn Auwaerter, an activist with the group 1Sky, started this week's flurry of attacks when she confronted Biden about coal issues during a campaign appearance outside Toledo, Ohio.

"We're not supporting 'clean coal,'" Biden told Auwaerter, according to video posted by Wonk Room, a blog sponsored by the liberal Center for American Progress.

"But guess what? China is burning 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up," Biden continued. "Because it's going to ruin your lungs and there's nothing we can do about it.

"No coal plants here in America," Biden said. "Build them, if they're going to build them over there, make [them] clean because they're killing you."

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., harshly criticized Biden's comments during the McCain campaign's conference call.

"It was a very unscripted moment, but this is where you're speaking the truth, and your true feelings are coming out," Capito said. "To me, that's American jobs and West Virginia jobs. It's not realistic and it doesn't make sense."

David Wade, a spokesman for Obama, responded that such remarks are "yet another false attack from a dishonorable campaign."

"Senator Biden's point is that China is building coal plants with outdated technology every day, and the United States needs to lead by developing clean coal technologies," Wade said in an e-mail response to questions.

Obama and Biden have proposed to invest $150 billion over 10 years on a variety of energy programs - everything from plug-in hybrid vehicles to biofuels and "low-emissions coal plants."

The Democrats say they will instruct the federal Department of Energy to start new public-private partnerships to build five commercial-scale coal-fired plants that capture carbon dioxide emissions and pump them underground.

But it's not clear exactly how much government money Obama and Biden would chip in for those plants, or how much of the $150 billion "clean energy" program would go toward coal.

McCain has said he would commit $2 billion every year toward "advancing clean coal technologies." But details of how that money would be spent have not been made public.

The details of such programs are important.

Scientists say carbon capture and storage is not a quick fix for dealing with the competing demands of increasing energy demands and decreasing greenhouse emissions. Such technology is not being used on a commercial scale, and myriad problems exist - from which type of carbon "capture" equipment works best to how long the gas will stay safely tucked underground.

Other energy experts worry that the whole enterprise is just too daunting, requiring huge amounts of pipelines and other infrastructure that could take decades to put in place.

Other advocates of carbon capture and sequestration think the technology already exists, and that all that is missing is a government mandate for utilities to use it.

Even a favorable report from MIT said the government needs to spend at least $460 million a year on various research and development efforts to make the idea work.

And various studies and audits of existing clean-coal programs indicate that many projects fell hopelessly behind schedule or were never finished. Other reports say that much of the money went for projects that would have been developed without millions of dollars in federal assistance.

"Poorly run and over-funded, clean coal has largely been a waste of taxpayer dollars," says a new report from Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Congress must stop throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at a program that has been plagued with inefficiencies and mismanagement.

"Continued funding for the bloated clean-coal program will do little to help our nation's energy future and leave taxpayers paying a hefty price."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 348-1702.