Some coal is cleaned at the source, before it's burned, as when a mountain top is cleanly stripped of its top.  The part that is not cleaned is washed down into former stream beds, where the gentle water that used to flow there purifies the silt into paradisical farm lands where even farmer's wives in gingham dresses can grow gardens of organic coal potatoes.

What little dirt remains on washed coal is then burned, with some leaking into the atmosphere.  But it does not damage, as it is heavier than air, and falls down either in the northeastern forests and lakes, or in the chasms of the Grand Canyon, so it doesn't affect people directly (except for the ones who continue to breathe.)

Clean coal also protects people from being overly stunned by the beauty of the Grand Canyon, as they don't have to be awed by a view of the other side anymore.

Go Barack "Energy is My Middle Name" Obama!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin