Evergreen Energy Inc EEE

Clean Coal:

[no1coalking]

There Are Many Clean Coal Power Choices, K-Fuel is One Answer: As FutureGen deadline nears, backers urge government to shift gears -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (The Associated Press) - Mar 3 Backers of the FutureGen clean-coal project urged the government not to give up on the initiative Monday, even as the deadline neared for companies that want to weigh in on the U.S. Department of Energy's plan to completely restructure it. The energy department sought comments through Monday, then plans to seek bids from companies interested in building one of what the agency says may be several projects designed to demonstrate that coal can be burned for power with little carbon dioxide pollution. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the power and coal companies that were the department's partners in FutureGen are urging the agency to build a single power plant as originally envisioned. "The Department of Energy's proposal to restructure the project is a tremendous setback on two issues of great importance to our nation: our quest for energy independence and our fight against climate change," Blagojevich said in a news release. The companies behind the project, known as the FutureGen Alliance, planned to build FutureGen at Mattoon in central Illinois. But the energy department, which was to provide about three-quarters of the $1.8 billion cost, backed away in January. The agency blamed rising costs. Illinois politicians and the would-be plant developers - including Peabody Energy and American Electric Power - blame politics. The developers chose Mattoon over another site in Illinois and two in Texas, President Bush's home state. The FutureGen Alliance continues to press its case in Washington, D.C., spokesman Lawrence Pacheco said. That includes the possibility of pressure on Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman during hearings this week. Critics of the Energy Department decision have said it sets the clean-coal project back by at least two years.