State GOP pols react harshly to Biden’s coal remarks
A former Colorado congressman and a state senator lashed out today at Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s comments against increasing the use of coal in the United States.

Biden “doesn’t give a dilly about a coal miner’s family or a coal miner’s job,” said Scott McInnis, a Republican who represented Colorado’s 3rd District, which includes several coal mines, such as those in Delta and Mesa counties.

“No coal plants here in America,” Biden said on a campaign swing in Ohio. “Build them, if they’re going to build them, over there” in China. “Make them clean.”

As it happens, this is literally my home town paper, though I haven’t lived in GJT since I was a toddler. And as environmentally somewhat-clueful as I am, I know that coal is a major source of energy and revenue in that part of Colorado, and over the line in Utah.  Now, I don’t think it’s the squeaky clean stuff this McInnis makes it out to be, but it’s relatively clean-burning. Mostly, it’s a big employer in a part of the country that either depends on ranching (not so much) and tourism/hospitality (which includes everything from posh ski resorts on down to the glut of hotels and restaurants at major Interstate exits in little one-eyed burgs.

I don’t know what a dilly is, but Biden probably doesn’t give one and this will probably be chalked up on the “gaffe” side of the column. I thought there was a lot of coal-mining in PA, his home state, but I could be wrong.

Ah, well, what’s next?