Governor Joe Manchin (D) has become desperate in his race for United States Senate. Recent polls show the governor losing to challenger John Raese by several percentage points. So Manchin has suddenly decided that’s it’s time for a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over coal.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin is suing the Obama administration over its coal regulations, which has nothing to do — nothing at all! — with Manchin’s underperforming Senate campaign, or the way he’s getting battered on the airwaves for having a D after his name.

Manchin says he’s been fighting the Obama Administration’s attempts to destroy the coal industry. Really? Manchin was just fine with cap-and-trade back in 2008, when liberals were poised for victory.

Manchin said, basically, that the coal industry would pay for carbon it used and West Virginia would move to a clean energy economy — the happy talk of 2008 that sounds ridiculous now after two years of political gaming.

2008, politically safe Joe Manchin: We’ll be just fine under cap-and-trade! Clean economy! Happy Earth!

2010, politically vulnerable Joe Manchin: Cap-and-trade will kill us! We’ll see the Obama Administration!

Pathetic, Governor Manchin. Pathetic.