" I emailed Obama's Senate address earlier this year about FutureGen. I received a lengthy reply stating his support for siting FutureGen in Illinois, with several megabytes of attachments detailing his support of the project.

It makes sense that a candidate running for president is not going to be touting an Illinois project on the campaign trail. But there is no doubt that Obama supports FutureGen in Illinois. Why don't you email his office and find out for yourself? "

" There is supposed to be a large scale sequestration operation, off shore in northern europe.

ADM is moving on a project to do it on site in Decatur.

The biggest issue I have with the majority of countries response to global warming, is the whole carbon credit money market they created. They charge a tax on everything based on its carbon emissions or footprint. Business can just pay to be dirty, and make no other response to their faulty emmissions. I saw on PBS where they were looking to trade carbon credits, for a country in south asia not deforesting its regions to farm.

I am glad the US chose not to participate. It has made strides to do it right, and not create a pay to do as you like market of released amospheric gasses. There is more to do, but playing emitted gas banker, like the rest of the world is, is counter productive to the effort.

I see Obama not bringing futuregen out and nationally acknowledging it is another failure of the administration to move forward, as a missed opportunity. If it does progress in his presidency, it will be less likely to be seen other than a home state sweet heart deal, even though it began before he decided to run. In that climate, public and congressional approval that may some day be required will be much harder to muster.

He needs to get nationaly on the record now, exactly what transpired, and what the project was, the DOE let progress though the years of processes this far and then killed on this administrations watch. "

" Bill, in regard to DOE's disappointing announcement as to Mattoon FutureGen, I've said all along that in politics issues are seldom as they appear to be. To use linear logic and automatically blame Bush (in a decision as illogical as this one was) is just too simplistic. I still say there is more to the story than to say: "Since Texas wasn't chosen, Bush himself killed it."

Making my suspicions more concrete is Obama's refusal to even mention the Mattoon FutureGen site in all the alternate energy campaigning he's done in the last 20 months. Sorry, I don't remember where he was speaking but, fairly recently, I heard Obama specifically mention FutureGen AND the plan for five potential sites for the study of CO2 sequestration.

I was shocked that he didn't make some political hay by mentioning what had happened here in Mattoon. I'm a McCain supporter and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop when Obama mentioned FutureGen. I was fully expecting him to take that opportunity to nail Bush and McSame" to the cross for the FutureGen stalemate. But he moved right on past it.

I dont think his omission was accidental. Like I said, theres more to this DOE decision than meets the eye and at this point, Im convinced that the rejection of Mattoon FutureGen is a position shared on both sides of the aisle and in several covert corners of Washington, DC. Its log rolling and back scratching in its purest form. "

" I'd disagree with both Mike P and Tom Andres. It's not a missed opportunity for Obama -- it would be unwise for a candidate from Illinois to make too much of a project that would benefit his home state. And Obama's general references to clean coal (and FutureGen) don't mean that he's secretly against the project. Why not e-mail his Senate office and ask? "

" //Why not e-mail his Senate office and ask?//

LYAO! Yes, and while you're at it, ask the O-man exactly how it is he was a player with his now-famous Reverend for 20 years and it never occurred to him that the guy was an abhorrent and hateful racist. Ask him how he came to have such close associations with the likes of the infamous James Johnson and Franklin Raines of Fannie Mae fame and the even more infamous William Ayers of American terrorist fame. Ask him about all this. Im sure hell hop aboard McCains StraightTalk Express and spill the beans on what drives him. I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message. "

" He never mentioned it, because HE DOESN'T CARE!!! Getting a coal plant for all you downstate hicks won't help him get in the White House. He already has Illinois and he knows it. The great welfare state in the north will see to that. His running mate has already poo-pood all over coal so now he can't support it publically and make Biden look like an even bigger idiot, if that is possible. "

" I will not say "I told you so, " oops I just did. FutureGen in Mattoon is dead, now and forever.

Obama does not mention it because he does not back FutureGen in Mattoon. McCain does not mention it because he also does not care if Mattoon gets FutureGen. Let's face it folks, no one outside of central Illinois cares about FutureGen in Mattoon.

Mattoon, the State of Illinois, and the FutureGen Alliance spent millions (of dollars) trying to get this plant when it was just not going to happen.

Pumping more money and our hopes into FutureGen in Mattoon will be like trying to raise last nights fried chicken from the dead! I just ain't going to happen. "

" No one is reviving FutureGen. The Bush administration KILLED IT, and nobody else wants to touch the rotting corpse. The project has been dead for months, and everyone knows that except, apparently, the half-wits around here who still want to throw money at it. "

" Tom, youd better trick up some new Republican lies to obscure the fact that the Bush administration killed FutureGen. The ones youre using are a bit thin, or simplistic, if you will.
By the way, when are you running away and leaving this website forever again? "

" woo hoo to futuregen, everyones answer here in coles county, i smell future unemployment, future empty warehouses, and future problems that aren't any different than before the idea came about "

" Get in touch with T Boone Pickens, Bill Gates, or any of the other multi billionaires in this country and see if they want in on getting this going without a dime from the US Government. "

" Ahmadinejad uses the expression "rotting corpse" to describe the fate of Israel. The Question poster on here uses the same expression to describe FutureGen. Perhaps there is a better way of wording your personal sentiments, TQ. "

" Well, I presume FutureGen's long-dead corpse is rotting, Tommy. You haven't preserved it as a mummy so you can worship it, have it? "

" Perhaps there is a better way of wording your personal sentiments, TQ
---------
First it was the spelling police.

Then came the grammar police.

Are we going to see the personal sentiment police now?

And from someone who posts racist jokes, no less. "

" This administration, has spent more than 2.5 billion on clean coal technology some reports say. This administration, stopped enforcing clean air acts for coal plants and others, more reports attest to. This was GW Bush's 2003 energy plan of the future. But his administration has undermined decades of environmental protections, throughout his term.

If they aren't enforcing EPA and energy department guidelines, and the project wasn't going home to texas, it was doomed to fail, long before they pulled the plug on it.

This technology is twice as efficient, but costs 500 more per Kw to build a plant. Roughly 250 million give or take, more than a traditional coal plant.

I almost guarantee the next administration, is going to get regulations back to being complied with.

Fifty two percent of the countries electricity comes from coal. The US has 250 years supply of coal. If efficiency were doubled, I would think that number would climb significantly as well. Many existing coal plants are 30 to 50 years young. Demand is increasing, and a twice as efficient process, should cut reliance on nuclear power substancially. China was a partner in this, and they need it as bad as we do if not more. Ther needs are increasing, and every new plant they build, is half as efficient, and untold times more polluting, than this would be. We need to get this going completely independent of DOE funding, ASAP. Futuregen needs to get the sequestration operation offshore in northern europe on board, if possible, and possibly expand greatly its investing partners. Allowances could be made for including their needs in the research, and development of the process, Possibly reducing the estimated number of plants that some say need to be built to get this technology accepted more widely. Last report shows six plants, would need built to get costs and profits in line with electic powers financial planning.

Electricity costs are going to rise, since the record profits, they have been reaping evidently hasn't gone to staying compliant of federal clean air guidelines. This administration has stuck it to us again.

If there is any level of responsibility they have not completely turned their back on the citizens on, someone please point me to it.

Investing is going to be tight for a while, but it seems a few hundred million, more in committed investment, could get this ball rolling. Every effort needs to be taken, to get this thing fully funded outside of government money, to ensure its continued sucess, once ground breaking does finally happen. We dont need to risk political shifts in attitude, and find the funding is no longer there a few terms down the road, once the Maverick rennegades of regulation enforcement get back to the whitehouse.

Google Clean coal, for most of the information I cited. "

" I also Googled futuregen.

The deadline for proposals for funding to the DOE, on the restructured project, is Wed Oct. 8. They plan to announce individual project funding in Dec 08. They are looking to commit 1.3 billion to these projects.

If they can just do this on site, at existing plants, why was there an intensively critical process of elimination of a site selection for the original plan in the first place?

The Hydrogen production, of the plant, may just be the key to getting further funding on this project. If Futuregen is commited to this still, and not overextended with the DOE diversion of their partners, on the soon to be announced projects funded, will be yet another issue to iron out, once the dust settles and a new administration takes office.

With the state of the economy, and goverment being what it has been under every republican administration, for decades, move on with out them, or let it die.

My research once again, in looking into it more fully leaves strong issues with the proximity of a chemical plant of this type to town, but the chosen site is now commited to, and if people have to move away from it, thats the cost of progress, along with this cities, and publicly funded but non profit coles together, planning for you.

If the partners, of futuregen, fall in with the DOE restructured plan, this plant will be completely scrapped, and the city can lease the land it bought for way too much money back to the farmer they bought it from. Or Possibly they could bring a commercial hog farm to the site instead and utilize the methane gas produced. "