Thursday, September 3, 2009 9:42 PM CDT
COLUMN: No questions about swampland asked at FutureGen session
By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair@jg-tc.com
No questions were directed to U.S. Department of Energy Undersecretary Kristina Johnson at Tuesday’s press conference.
But one FutureGen official half expected that someone might have a question for her.
He told me that he thought someone might ask her if she came to see if there really is swampland at the FutureGen site west of Mattoon.
Johnson, you see, holds the same office in the DOE that previously was held by C.H. “Bud” Albright.
You remember Albright. In January 2008, after DOE pulled out of the FutureGen project, Albright said the federal government was withdrawing because it was not interested in “building Disneyland in some swamp in Illinois.”
Contrast that attitude with Johnson’s comments Tuesday in the Mattoon school district Conference Room: “FutureGen holds great promise as a way to use coal in a way that puts less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
And Johnson, who has bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and holds 45 U.S. patents and patents pending, said FutureGen will “tap into the collective DNA of innovation” that brought about the industrial revolution of the 1800s “and do it again in Mattoon.”
While other DOE staff had been to Mattoon when environmental tests were conducted, Johnson is the highest-ranking DOE official to come to Mattoon and see the community. She is in the No. 3 position at DOE.
The same office, as we said, that Albright of Disneyland/swampland fame previously held.
Sometimes when you see a famous person in an unfamiliar setting, you can walk right by and not realize who you just saw.
That was not the case Tuesday when I walked into the school district office.
Former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt was standing in the hallway. No one had to point him out.
Mike Mudd, the CEO of FutureGen Alliance, said Gephardt has been lobbying in Washington on behalf of the FutureGen project for a couple years.
Gephardt, who lives in the St. Louis area, drove over for the board meeting in Mattoon.
Gephardt was a U.S. representative for 22 years and served as Democratic Party leader in the House for several years.
We all knew that lobbyists were employed to boost the project in Washington but I had not heard Gephardt’s name.
He did not participate in the press conference.
By signing the cooperative agreement with FutureGen, Johnson puts DOE on board as a partner in trying to get FutureGen in operation.
The FutureGen board has a lot of work to do by February 2010. The Alliance must cut some costs and recruit as many as 11 new partners willing to invest millions of dollars in FutureGen.
“By the end of the year, we expect to have the pieces of the puzzle put together,” Mudd said. “I’m very confident. That’s my job. I am dedicated to making (FutureGen) happen and a lot of other people are working to make it happen.”
I wish that it could happen sooner but Mudd hopes that ground will be broken on the near-zero emissions power plant sometime next year.
Oh, and one more thing about FutureGen. U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson referred to FutureGen in opening remarks at his recent town hall meeting on health care.
Johnson mentioned that he supports FutureGen and thinks it will be a boost to Mattoon and all of downstate Illinois.
Yes, that’s true. But if that’s the sum of the plant’s importance, then FutureGen is just federal pork.
I don’t believe it is pork as, apparently, some members of Johnson’s party do.
If FutureGen is worth investing $2 billion to gasify coal and sequester the carbon dioxide underground, then it also will be a boost to the nation and the world.
Perhaps I am overreacting but the whole idea behind FutureGen is to find a way to continue using coal for some of the world’s energy needs but reduce the amount of CO2 that is released into the air.
The fact that scientists and people in the power supply business chose Mattoon as the best site for this project is wonderful.
But when anyone speaks of its benefits, let’s not forget the worldwide implications. That makes it more than a local/downstate boost, which opponents might say is “just pork.”
Gov. Pat Quinn made a mistake by allowing two University of Illinois trustees to remain on the board.
James Montgomery and Frances Carroll were the only trustees who refused to resign in the wake of the recent scandal about political clout impacting some student admissions.
A commission he appointed recommended that every trustee step down. Seven of the nine did.
When Montgomery and Carroll refused, Quinn said they can stay because they threatened to sue if he tried to dismiss them.
You have got to be kidding.
Had they resigned, Quinn could have reappointed them, if he desired.
Montgomery and Carroll claim their innocence in the scandal. So have other trustees.
They have to go.
Quinn showed no backbone in backing down from this issue.
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Spartacus wrote on Sep 7, 2009 7:09 AM:
"A journalist is a person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that aren't biased."
Bill I have an idea. As "Managing Editor" how about trying to edit out some of you and your staffs personal feelings and only report the news. It is no wonder the company you work for is basically bankrupt. Every article you write or every article from the "editorial board" is a personal slant by Bill Lair. Maybe Bill you should take some introductory Journalism classes at Lakeland College. That is if you can find it. Seems Lakeland is a little to far east in the county for you to pick up any stories on. "