McCain / Palin And "Clean Coal"

Since McCain announced Sarah Palin as his Vice President candidate, the US has been waiting for her to accept the nomination and to adress the nation and the Republican party at their little Republican gathering down in New Orleans.

Palin spoke about renewable energy, which is something a modern and (sane?) politician has to do in this era. But she also mentioned something I could not quite understand. She told the American people she wanted to give funds to "clean coal"...

What is "clean coal"? Isn't clean coal an oxymoron? Can you sell an idea or arguments by sugar coating it with fancy adjectives in front of the concept? The next thing they'll tell us is that they are going to have "clean death penalties", "clean warfare", "clean project housing" "clean garbage" etc.

Palin, I would say that "clean coal" partially is what I would call diamonds. You cannot get the dirt and pollution out of coal when you use it to produce energy. Yet.