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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 9:35 PM CDT
OUR VIEW: FutureGen land contracts give project footing again
By the JG/T-C Editorial Board
editorial@jg-tc.com
The U.S. Department of Energy pulled the rug out from under the original FutureGen power plant project so swiftly that it’s understandably tough for involved leaders in Mattoon to catch their breath, dust themselves off and stand back up.
Last week’s signing of land contracts, though, is enough to spring anyone into action, that figurative rug of opportunity pulled away or not.
FutureGen Alliance on Aug. 13 exercised purchase options for the approximately 400-acre site where the power plant presumably will be built west of Mattoon. The local economic development group Coles Together pitched in nearly half of the $6.5-million cost, and Angela Griffin, president of Coles Together, said it best: “This says the land is going to be purchased. It’s a contractual obligation by both parties. This should go a long way to convince the public that they are committed to this site.”
After years of research and work, the alliance chose the site near Mattoon based on science, not politics. It was the latter, however, many contend, at work when the federal government yanked its support away from the single-site FutureGen plant. The project is designed to, on a never-before-used scale, demonstrate the viability of storing carbon dioxide emissions underground. The idea is to nearly eliminate airborne byproducts of burning coal to produce energy.
With the ever-changing and volatile energy landscape today, FutureGen should be a key to boosting the viability of the abundant supply of the fossil fuel in the United States. It is hoped that the project will provide technological knowledge to be shared and used for mankind’s benefit worldwide.
But since the federal government was the largest financial piece of the original FutureGen puzzle, it appeared the project might be impossible to resurrect once DOE pulled its support.
This land purchase does turn the tide.
Even those who declared the effort dead in the water should be encouraged by the confidence the alliance is showing in the Mattoon site with the garnering of purchase contracts for the property. When a new president takes office in January, FutureGen supporters expect federal backing for the Mattoon site to have a good chance for renewal.
The current urgency for new energy options, boosted by spiking gasoline and other energy costs, is a shot in the arm for the Mattoon FutureGen site. As Griffin said, there is “no other site that can be ready to host this technology as quickly as our site.“
So this land buy and the alliance’s continued support for the local plan takes the downward momentum away from DOE’s pulling-the-rug-out-from-under-us trick. The next step is the closing date on the sale of the property, expected in the next few months.
We’re even more hopeful than ever that FutureGen and Mattoon leaders soon will be standing together to launch this important opportunity for one cornerstone in the foundation of a new energy direction for the nation.
JG/T-C Editorial Board
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gringa wrote on Aug 20, 2008 11:46 PM:
I want to know the names of the people who have told Angela Griffin they would provide $3-million in contributions and pledges for this land deal. I want to know how much money each of those people has contributed or pledged to this land deal.
Coles Together is a taxpayer funded entity. Surely the public has a right to know from whom and to what extent it's getting its money.
Surely the JG/T-C Editorial Board would agree that this information is *news fit to print*. "