The US of A

We're used to mocking our brethren across the pond - it's part of the British way of life. I used to do exactly the same thing.
I spent a month in Pittsburgh over this past summer, and started to understand a little of the American way of thinking - and it is very different from our own.

I would have to say that it's been pretty well summed up (at least by my reckoning) in this behind the plug / CNN video.

Essentially Ohio and Pennsylvania are battleground states - meaning that both candidates need to win the same states to win the white house. This means that the candidates will pander to the voters in these states, and that means promising coal.

How is this relevant to us?

Who do you think is going to have a bigger impact in Ohio and Pennsylvania - out of state anti-coal 'green' groups, local residents, the president? Probably the latter two, and they do want to see new coal power stations built; either their jobs depend on it, or it's a promise they have to keep.
We all live in the same atmosphere, so these power stations are going to emit the same CO2 into the atmosphere.

This is why I favour new coal - because with other countries building the stuff a greenhouse gas control strategy that excludes coal can't be sold to the rest of the world.
If we're serious about selling low carbon strategies to the rest of the world we have to stick a carbon capture and storage plant onto a domestic coal fired power station. When other countries see what has been done, and that it can be done, they are far more likely to go for it.

That is why I support Kingsnorth.