A new coal plant in eastern Arkansas [1] is expected to come on line in 2010. The joke is that the supporters of the $1.3 billion coal-fired power plant are pointing to "emerging technology that could capture and store carbon..." (my emphasis)

The nasty punchline (and the reason for the use of "could" instead of "will" in the above quote) is that the likely timeline for the deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture and storage [2] is around 30 years.

Bruce Niles, Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign [3]Director said of the coal plant construction that "[i]f they build all 1,300 megawatts, it will be one of the biggest new sources of global-warming pollution in the U.S. in the last 30 years."

So build the coal plant now, spew heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the air for the next few decades and then maybe, just maybe capture the gases when its way too late to make a difference anyways.

Not a very funny joke. Sorry.