{"id":21036,"date":"2014-01-17T17:29:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T17:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/?p=318324"},"modified":"2014-01-17T17:29:18","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T17:29:18","slug":"president-obama-gives-1-billion-game-changing-gift-to-clean-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leedpoints.com\/green-building-blog\/president-obama-gives-1-billion-game-changing-gift-to-clean-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"President Obama Gives $1 Billion Game-Changing Gift to \u2018Clean\u2019 Coal"},"content":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"coalisdirty\"<\/p>\n

\"jbiggers\"<\/a>In the same days an entrepreneur went on federal trial for fraud over an unproven “clean coal”<\/a> scheme, President Obama’s Department of Energy (DOE) gave a game-changing approval for a $1 billion gift<\/a> to continue the unproven FutureGen “clean coal” boondoggle<\/a> in Illinois.<\/p>\n

Kind of ironic, ain’t it—if it weren’t so tragic.<\/p>\n

On the heels of the West Virginia coal-cleaning chemical disaster<\/a>, with Illinois residents already besieged by a toxic coal rush that has seen production increase by an estimated 70 percent<\/a> in the last few years, amid record climate disruptions and drought and flooding, this billion dollar bonus to Big Coal might signal “game over” for clean energy<\/a> and climate initiatives in the heartland—or at least Illinois.<\/p>\n

\"coalisdirty\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the DOE “record of decision<\/a>,” the project “would support the ongoing and future use of the nation’s abundant coal reserves in a manner that addresses both aging power plants and environmental challenges.”<\/p>\n

“Clean coal is an essential component of the President’s “All of the Above<\/a>” energy strategy and the proposed project would help DOE meet its congressionally-mandated mission to support advanced clean-coal technologies,” the DOE added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Energy Information Administration, coal production—and its disastrous fallout of coal slurry<\/a>, black lung disease and clean water contamination—in the Illinois Basin should surpass the central Appalachian <\/a>coal fields by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

Too bad neighboring Iowa can’t take over Illinois—yes Iowa, a state that has taken the lead in the multi-billion-dollar wind industry<\/a>, making it as competitive in the market as dirty coal.<\/p>\n

Illinois, meanwhile, continues to lose nearly $20 million annually<\/a> to maintain the state coal industry, according to a study last year.<\/p>\n

And hardly a single green job<\/a> designated for southern Illinois’ struggling economy.<\/p>\n

Last spring, the Congressional Research Service issued<\/a> their own concerns about the viability of FutureGen’s carbon capture and storage plans: <\/p>\n

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Nearly ten years and two restructuring efforts since FutureGen’s inception, the project is still in its early development stages. Although the Alliance completed drilling a characterization well at the storage site in Morgan County, IL, and installed a service rig over the well for further geologic analysis, issues with the power plant itself have not yet been resolved.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Other countries, like Norway, have abandoned<\/a> the CCS boondoggles after years of planning.<\/p>\n

In Illinois, instead, residents in coal mining areas—not unproven CCS technologies—have been abandoned. Check out a few recent examples of “clean energy” champion Gov. Pat Quinn’s defining coal legacy in the last year:<\/p>\n