Article Options

Which candidate will bring back FutureGen?

Local politicians discuss likelihood of clean-coal project returning to Mattoon

By Blackwell Thomas, The Southern

Sunday, April 6, 2008 10:26 PM CDT

The arrival of an experimental power plant in Illinois seemed guaranteed last December when a consortium of mining and power companies announced Mattoon as the future site of the clean-coal burning FutureGen plant.

But today, funding for the project is in limbo for reasons many say are political and nothing more. And while others wonder if President Bush's loyalty to Mattoon's west Texas competitors might have influenced the decision by the Department of Energy to pull funding, some Illinois politicians say there is no question.

"I am convinced it was political," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in an interview with The Southern last week. "It wasn't until Illinois beat Texas that this administration pulled the plug on this."

Illinois State Sen. Dale Righter, a Republican from Charleston, said Durbin's sentiment crosses party lines.

"If you look at it objectively, and I don't like to say it because the president is the leader of my party, but it was clearly political - any other explanation doesn't pass the smell test," Righter said.

"The Department of Energy, the administration, were all giving the green light; then Illinois was announced. Within a matter of days (DOE) is suddenly voicing concerns about funding. The price didn't escalate in three weeks," he said.

Righter's district stood to benefit heavily from the $1.8 billion plant, the 3,000 construction jobs and 150 permanent positions it would have created.

The project would also have been the first of its kind to use sequestration of greenhouse gases by pumping them into geological formations about a mile underground and possibly help provide a boost to Illinois' coal mining industry.

Last December, the five-year effort to land FutureGen had come down to Mattoon competing against Tuscola and two Texas towns, Jewett and Odessa. State officials say Illinois spent about $1.8 million campaigning on behalf of its two candidate cities and when Mattoon was announced by the FutureGen Alliance, it appeared the investment had paid off.

But since that announcement, elation has turned to frustration as the Department of Energy said the proposed federal funding for the project, about $1.1 billion, would not be forthcoming. Instead it was announced that the money would be invested in smaller clean energy projects.

State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he wasn't convinced the reason for DOE pulling funding was entirely political and the issue is one that should transcend party politics, at least in Illinois.

"If it was based on the president's decision, Texas would have just got the money," he said. "I am frustrated with the decision. I am not happy, but we are going to continue to work in bipartisan fashion on keeping this alive."

Durbin said he was not holding out hope that funding will be restored while Bush is in the White House.

"We are going to try to keep this concept alive until this Secretary of Energy and administration have left town," he said. "We don't have a chance as long as they are here."

So of the current crop of presidential candidates, a field that includes Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who would provide the greatest opportunity for FutureGen to move forward?

"I don't know Sen. McCain's position on this ? but I know for certain that Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton very much support the FutureGen Alliance," said Durbin.

A spokesman from Obama's Washington Senate office reiterated Durbin's assertion. Messages left with McCain's and Clinton's offices went unreturned.

Bost said, as an Illinois resident, Obama has to support FutureGen but both Clinton and McCain would be wise to follow suit.

"If Barack doesn't win, (candidates) trying to pick up their Illinois base would want to support (FutureGen)," he said. "There are no other sites (for FutureGen). With Barack, it's his home state, but the other two would be able to try to pick up votes, recoup friends and influence legislators."

blackwell.thomas@thesouthern.com / 351-5823