Death, coal, and Romney. The Herald editorial page today offers grudging praise of Governor Mitt Romney's successful efforts to jawbone the coal-burning Salem electric power plant into cleaning up its act.

How grudging? Well, at one point it simply ignores reality. Referring to an appearance Romney made in front of the plant last February, the editorial states:

Romney ... got a little carried away at the event, declaring "that plant kills people," a charge he has never substantiated.

Well, here's a press release put out by the Harvard School of Public Health back when it issued the results of a study it had conducted on the health effects of the Salem plant and the Brayton Point plant, in Somerset.

The subhead: "Attributes 159 Premature Deaths Per Year in Region."