BEALLSVILLE, Ohio — Mitt Romney today stood in front of eastern Ohioans seemingly straight out of the mine — hard hats, smudged faces, and blue and gray uniforms — as he accused President Obama of “waging war” on coal.

“He’s for all the sources of energy that come from above the ground, none of the sources below the ground, like oil and coal and gas,” the presumptive Republican nominee told a crowd outside American Energy Corp’s Century Mine near Beallsville, Belmont County.

“I’m for all of the above, whether it comes from above the ground or below the ground,” he said. “We’re going to take advantage of our energy resources to save your jobs, create more jobs, and, by the way, when we use our plentiful energy resources, our inexpensive carbon-based resources, you’re going to see manufacturing come back to America…,” he said.

“By the end of my second term — hopefully, I get that first and second term — we will have North American energy independence,” he said. “We won’t have to buy oil from Venezuala of the the Middle East.”

The president’s campaign refuted Mr. Romney’s comments about coal today.

“Only one candidate in this race actually has a record of finding a clean future for coal, and that’s President Obama,” said Obama spokesman Lis Smith. “President Obama has increased investments in the research and development of clean coal technology and employment in the mining industry hit a 15-year high in 2011.

“This stands in stark contrast to Mitt Romney, who, as governor of Massachusetts, spoke out against coal jobs and said that a coal-fired plant ‘kills people.’ This is just another issue where Mitt Romney is not being honest with the American people.”  (continue reading)