Count me among the Kansas Gov. Count me among the Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius fans who would like to see her picked as the vice presidential candidate. One good reason to support Sebelius as VP is her green cred, as David Roberts points out. A Democrat in a very Republican state, she's had the guts to block coal plants because of CO2 emissions. The coal plants have sued, the case is going to the state Supreme Court, and Sebelius is being attacked from all sides by the coal lobby.
She'd make a particularly good choice for Obama, as he seems to have a problem when it comes to coal. Though he later heavily qualified his support for coal-to-liquids technology (after progressive groups griped about it), he was a co-sponsor of the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act in January 2007, and he opposes the bill that passed the House in November calling for reforms to the 1872 Mining Law. The law as it stands protects companies that mine public lands from paying royalties and doesn't hold them responsible for clean up, but Obama wouldn't vote for the reforms because they would put "a significant burden on the mining industry." He also led the charge to get the nation's first zero-emissions coal power plant built in Illinois, which the Department of Energy awarded the state in December. He's got a solid energy and environment plan that includes a only limited support for coal, but his record of copping to the coal industry is troublesome. Someone like Sebelius might have the brass to keep the coal industry at an appropriate distance.
And it's becoming increasingly clear what kind of pressure the next president will be under from the coal industry, as it's already plunked down $35 million for pro-coal advertising in primary and caucus states to rally support for coal-fired electricity.
--Kate Sheppard
