If you want to understand why America burns so much coal, spend a few minutes over at the lobbying disclosure website run by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to the Office of the Clerk, in the first quarter of 2008, Big Coal’s new front group, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, spent a record-breaking $1.9 million in federal lobbying expenses. To put that in perspective, in the same period, the Solar Energies Industries Association spent all of $75,000.