Governor sends letter to Senator Durbin summarizing state’s efforts to make landmark clean-coal project a reality in Mattoon
Mattoon officials lead Save-Our-FutureGen effort of Capitol Hill on behalf of Central Illinois community and State of Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – On the eve of a U.S. Senate Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today sent a letter to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) again making the case for why the landmark FutureGen clean coal project must move forward as originally planned in Mattoon, Illinois. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development will hold a hearing tomorrow on FutureGen. The Governor’s letter to Sen. Durbin highlights the critical need for this project and documents the state’s efforts to make the revolutionary project a reality, despite 11th hour attempts by the U.S. Department of Energy to abandon the project. Because the state was not invited as a witness, the Governor asked Senator Durbin to share this information with his colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“Since the Alliance announced the selection of Mattoon last December, the drumbeat of urgency in finding solutions to global warming has grown ever louder. Leaders in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, along with Presidential candidates of all stripes, are calling for meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. FutureGen is an important means to that end,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
FutureGen is a $1.8 billion coal gasification facility, which will convert coal into hydrogen and electricity, while pioneering the capture and safe storage of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide deep underground. It is intended to lay the groundwork for developing similar plants around the country and the world. Proceeding with FutureGen as planned also will pave the way for America’s continued use of coal and enabling coal to be an engine for job creation and economic growth.
“For two years, the State of Illinois has stated our case as to why we should be chosen to host this landmark project. The Mattoon site was chosen based on science – exactly as it should be – and the DOE’s attempts to railroad this project have no merit,” said Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. “FutureGen as it was originally designed is an important step in addressing the issue of global climate change and is too important to Illinois and the world to delay any longer. We are continuing to make sizable steps, even as DOE continues to drag its feet, and I hope Congress will act quickly to put the project back on track.”
The FutureGen-Illinois’ supporters, led by Senator Durbin, in Congress hope to sustain the project’s momentum until a new administration is in place in Washington D.C.
Similar efforts in Illinois have been underway since DOE announced their plans to restructure the project on Dec 19th. The state’s efforts reached a pivotal point earlier this month, with Gov. Blagojevich approving a $677,000 grant to fund a major vibration testing effort designed to provide final assurance that CO2 can be injected and stored safely a mile beneath the site.
In April, the FutureGen Alliance and local economic development group Coles Together agreed to purchase the 440-acre site near Mattoon that was chosen for the FutureGen project. Coles Together has pledged $3 million in private economic development funds toward land acquisition. The Alliance share of the land costs will come from non-public funds provided by the group’s 13 member companies.
President Bush initiated FutureGen in 2003, and as recently as his State of the Union Address, reiterated that environmentally responsible energy is essential to keeping our economy growing. On November 30, 2007, DOE reaffirmed that the project was moving forward as planned. In December, 2007 Mattoon, Illinois was chosen as the site of the FutureGen project. After it became clear that an Illinois site would be chosen over a Texas site, the Energy Department suggested the project be dismantled. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has been sharply criticized on Capitol Hill for this decision.
The FutureGen Alliance, the project’s developer, has vowed to continue working with the State of Illinois and the Illinois Congressional Delegation to ensure the project moves forward and succeeds in Mattoon.