The myth that big business is the sworn enemy of government regulation is entrenched in the minds of the media and many politicians–in part because of its usefulness to the Left (any opponent of regulation is simply a shill for big business), and in part because the media and bloggers aren’t typically good enough at economics to understand that regulation, by adding to overhead and increasing the value of a really good lobbyist, empowers big business.

Hence today’s embarrassing “April Fools” joke from the (hubristically named) Solve Climate blog: “In an unexpected move coming hard on the heels of Earth Hour, two of global warming’s biggest bad guys sent a letter to the White House and Congressional leadership today urging immediate adoption of a stiff tax on carbon.” Turns out, this really happened. Yesterday.

The liberal Center for American Progress points out on its blog that the National Mining Association has sent a letter to House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell calling for a tax on carbon dioxide–with the proceeds going to fund coal-industry research on how to capture CO2 emissions.

I’m not the slightest bit surprised by big coal’s big-government stance. I’m simply shocked that a blog entrenched in the fight to regulate the economy in the name of global warming wouldn’t realize that it’s on big business’s side.

p.s. Big coal’s fondness for big government goes way back.