la-na-climate-politics-20101027
Boucher said he helped negotiate provisions "to get the best deal for coal" he could in the legislation. The final bill included tens of millions of dollars for "clean coal" technology, funds that would have directly benefited the region.

"I've had to explain it," Boucher said in an interview. "It's not easy to explain. It does not translate very well into a 30-second commercial."

In the adjoining district, Perriello has tried to turn the argument to one about clean energy and jobs. Trailing in the polls all year, the freshman Democrat has trumpeted his efforts to funnel federal funds to renewable energy projects in the economically depressed region.

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"This is a good issue for us," Perriello said in an interview outside a Charlottesville school.

"I think my message of energy independence and green jobs still beats the Republican message of burying your head in the sand and doing nothing, even in a very conservative district," he added. "People understand that this needs to happen."

But even some of his supporters are skeptical.

Roy VanDerHyde, who runs a dairy in Chatham, received about $1.2 million in state and federal grants this year to harness methane gas produced from cow manure. In another month, he said, his herd will provide enough electricity to power as much as 600 homes.

"I'm split on cap and trade," VanDerHyde said. "If it works, it could make my [project] a gold mine. But it will cost so much to run the dairy, it will be a wash. That's what I'm worried about."

bob.drogin@latimes.com

James Oliphant of the Washington bureau contributed to this report from Bismarck, N.D.