Summer of Corruption: Obama’s billion-dollar earmark for shady Illinois energy boondoggle
Like so much that emanates from Washington, this latest summer of corruption tale stinks.
Back in February 2009, you may recall that government spending watchdog GOP Sen. Tom Coburn first called attention to a $2 billion earmark in the Obama stimulus bill to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Dept. of Energy defunded because the project was inefficient. The pet project of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin ballooned in cost, but survived attempts to kill it. Obama continued to deny the existence of earmarks in the stimulus bill, even as his administration moved forward to dole them all out.
Well, last week, Obama’s Energy Department crowed about a repackaged FutureGen earmark — the biggest in American history at $1 billion:
August 5, 2010
Secretary Chu Announces FutureGen 2.0
Awards $1 Billion in Recovery Act Funding for Carbon Capture and Storage Network in IllinoisWashington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced the awarding of $1 billion in Recovery Act funding to the FutureGen Alliance, Ameren Energy Resources, Babcock & Wilcox, and Air Liquide Process & Costruction, Inc. to build FutureGen 2.0, a clean coal repowering program and carbon dioxide (CO2) storage network. The project partners estimate the program will bring 900 jobs to downstate Illinois and another 1,000 to suppliers across the state.
“Today’s announcement will help ensure the US remains competitive in a carbon constrained economy, creating jobs while reducing greenhouse gas pollution,” said Secretary Chu. “This investment in the world’s first, commercial-scale, oxy-combustion power plant will help to open up the over $300 billion market for coal unit repowering and position the country as a leader in an important part of the global clean energy economy.”
“As with the original FutureGen, Mattoon and the state of Illinois are positioned as leaders in innovative technology that can serve as a model for the nation,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. “The new project stays true to the original goal of dramatically reducing pollution and providing thousands of good paying jobs in our state.”
A funny thing happened on the way to the Illinois pay-off, though. While Durbin rushed to secure the money and bragging rights, the people of Mattoon, Illiniois are saying not so fast:
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin demanded Monday that officials in an eastern Illinois town decide by Friday whether they still want it to be part of a futuristic clean-coal project despite radical changes that scrap plans to build an experimental power plant.
…In a letter to Angela Griffin, a local economic developer who has pushed to make Mattoon the home of FutureGen, Durbin said the Department of Energy needs an answer by the end of the week so, if need be, a new site for carbon dioxide storage can be found.
“Make no mistake, Coles County has the right of first refusal and I will support Mattoon if that’s the local consensus,” Durbin wrote. “But, this project which will bring much needed job creation, economic activity, environmental benefits, and more than $1.2 billion in federal funds to the State of Illinois must go forward.”
Griffin, in a written response to a request for comment from The Associated Press, said the community doesn’t want to make a hasty decision.
“We understand the desire to quickly execute this new project for the State of Illinois, but it took our community years to evaluate and embrace the original FutureGen project and we want to give the citizens sufficient time to thoughtfully consider the changed project,” Griffin wrote. She is the president of the Coles Together economic development group.
Discover Magazine suggests the fundamental pointlessness of the new demonstration project boondoggle:
Under the original plan, the high-tech new plant in Mattoon would have turned coal into a clean-burning gas and would then have filtered out the Co2. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois tried to defend this change of course by arguing that bureaucratic and budgetary headaches delayed FutureGen so long that building that kind of plant isn’t worthwhile—gasification isn’t the leading edge technology it was several years ago.
“The heart of this is a research effort,” Durbin said. “It really made no sense to build a power plant to prove what’s already being tested in three or four other commercial facilities” [AP].
The oxygen-burning plant would be more experimental—if it’s ever built. Some trials are going on in Europe, but the New York Times reports that the largest such plant that presently exists creates about 10 megawatts. The Meredosia plant, which is an old oil-burning operation owned by St. Louis energy company Ameren, would create 200 MW if successfully overhauled.
Construction on the whole project is scheduled to start in June 2011, including the pipeline to Mattoon. (Because carbon sequestration requires the right kind of geology, you can’t just stash CO2 underneath wherever your plant might be. So now that the government has moved the “FutureGen 2.0″ across the state, they’re stuck piping the CO2 across Illinois to the location that’s been approved.)
However, with the glacial pace that has plagued FutureGen so far, there’s no reason to think it will be the first of its kind by the time it’s built. (emphasis added)…
The construction of the new pipeline will add at least $200 million to the cost of the dubious, revamped project.
Brian Darling at RedState sums it up:
For months, the Obama Administration and Congress said that the Stimulus language was not an earmark for this company in Illinois. We now know that assertion to be false. The actions yesterday from Secretary of Energy Steven Chu confirm suspicions that this is the biggest earmark in American history. FutureGen in Matoon, Illinois gets $1 billion and average Americans are provided with the bill.
President Obama, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Secretary Chu need to explain to the American people how this happened. How did this earmark get into the Stimulus? Why is the Obama Administration funnelling $1 billion into Illinois for a project of dubious effectiveness. Unemployment today stands at 9.5% and the Stimulus has proven to have had no effect on unemployment rates.
Ths President’s Stimulus is a failure and many on the Hill are concerned about this project as evidence of special treatment for some companies in the President’s home state. This is exactly the type of waste, fraud and abuse that motivate average Americans to join the Tea Party movement to continue to distrust the federal government.
Yep. Remember in November.
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Nowhere in the analysis of the story do I see a mention of the fact that Dr. Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning Physicist, so all critical remarks regarding this endeavor are forthwith to be ignored.
Another Democrat distortion of the free market, at taxpayers’ expense, and for the benefit of certain peoples’ friends.
Pathetic.
Do you think Al Gore’s Chicago Climate Exchange might have something to gain in this deal? Let’s ask Maurice Strong if he benefits from this fraud.
If anyone doubts the global plot to profit from the takeover of the CLIMATE (sic), dig into this pile of crapola.
Good point. I retract all my comments about this story.
Move along. Pay no attention to this billion dollars of wasted taxpayers’ money.
The collective stupidity of the DC elites is quite impressive.
Obama and Paul Krugman have Nobel prizes too so you see that’s really no glowing endorsement of Dr. Chu.
Remember, experts are people who know more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing. Or, as Papa Gizzip once said, “He’s just another educated idiot.”
When do the voters who voted for this clown say: ENOUGH ALREADY!!! Oh, yea, stooopid voters…
At least they are not building it in Mexico?
Looks like people missed your *wink*.
Don’t give them any ideas…
Here is a Bush project for clean coal, up and running. It’s more efficient than conventional power plants … And the technology has been made available worldwide.
Anybody remember how utterly stupid Jimmy Carter was? Synfuels anyone. Well Obowma stupidly is going to be far worse.
Why filter the stuff of life, CO2 when it does so much good.
Liberals are nutcases.
Here’s my prediction for carbon sequestration:
They’re putting all this CO2 in the ground or in the oceans. At some point in the future, the carbon dioxide will somehow escape and come to the surface (a la Lake Nyos) killing a LOT of people.
Maybe soon, maybe in the far future…
MM another great segment on Fox and Friends this morning!!! Keep shining the light on these scumbags!!!
It figures that Durbin doesn’t live by the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” idea.
But that will be on someone else’s watch and they are hoping it will be a non-DemocRAT so they can then point their fingers and yell, “YOU are responsible for this!”
Tarpon @ #11. Good memory & point about Carter. I lived in W.Va. when he pretended to be president. A coal gasification project was started, with lots of noise about being energy independent & jobs, jobs, jobs… In actuality, all that was done was to repeat the same things the Nazi’s did in late ’30′s Germany. There was no breakthrough in technology, & as we all know so well, no independence from foreign oil. After about 2 years or so, the project was abruptly cancelled, & the very few people employed were out of a job. I’m not an engineer & claim no knowledge of gasification, but if the Nazi’s did in the ’30′s, how in the wide world could gasification have been considered “cutting edge technology” only a few years ago?
In other news, Virginia (after whacking Øbamacare) will see significant cuts in its federal funding.
Surely it is a coincidence….
Wouldn’t that be trees?
On the other hand, can’t we just take the sequestered CO2 and use it to make fizzy drinks for us all to enjoy? I think that would make a good campaign talking point for the Dems who support this project don’t you? It’s not like they have anything else they can point to that’s popular . . .
Ooooh! Ooooh! Make that adult fizzy drinks and we’ll all be happier!
Good for Coles County. I went to college there and the people are level headed. Durbin though is a scum bag. What is more absurd than trying to filter and pipe CO2? Global Warmists are fruit cakes.
Absolutely! Then the government can tax sales of those fizzy drinks because they’re no good for us! Killer idea! Plus, the administration can now claim they’ve invented a perpetual motion machine….everybody wins!
*out*
Hmm 1-2 billion needed to creat roughly 1-2 thousand jobs. That means 1 million dollars to create each job. Yeah, I would call that inefficient.
MSM…???? Heeeere, MSM…. Com’on, MSM….
Do they really think we are so stupid that they can flaunt their corruption right in our faces? Where is the “Department of Injustice” on this con game? Remember Noverber!
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We already have the best designed CO2 capture systems up and running. They are called PLANTS–and trees–and grass–etc. Designed by the best engineer ever–GOD!–and free.
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And no Gubmint subsidies required. A Billion here, a Billion there, an Ethanol Scam, etc. After a while you’re starting to talk real money–for no payback.
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REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER and vote these evil clueless greenie clowns into FUNEMPLOYMENT.
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John Bibb
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In an effort to repay the Chinese Communist government for their generous contributions to our national debt, they will no doubt be enjoined to operate the coal plant, since they have so much experience in clean coal technology.
Of course, the Chinese purchase of Carbon Credits from Al Gore’s green companies, and the finder’s fee paid to Shore Bank will make those shareholders (and, Obama) happy…not to mention the lack of pollution that the carbon crediting provides the general population.
Certainly, if one was to follow the “trickle down” corruption model so prevalent in Illinois (and now, Washington, D.C.,) Senator Dirtbag Dick Durbin, and Secretary Ah Chu, and those who fawn around them, will also be supplied with oodles of non-taxable graft, er, I mean incentives.
Now that’s just stupid.
I think God already beat them to it.
Any eggheads out there?
Liberals…attempting the work God thru nature has been doing for millions of years.
Limestone. Gee, wonder how much Co2 is locked up in that stuff around the world?
I confess to spending a few dark, gleeful moments on what a personal “carbon sequestration” system would look like for Mr. Obama.
Now you’ve done it – exposed the seawater buffer system. The power of the earth to maintain a ecological balance is remarkable. If only our political elites understood that. Instead, they keep trying to make money through misrepresenting science.
The presence of carbon in molecules separates the organic from the inorganic. How much carbon is locked up in sugars, carbohydrates and proteins. Humans are filled with carbon. Just wait till EPA charges an environmental impact fee for all humans dead or alive. And who will pay for all the carbon in the insects? We are surrounded by all that evil carbon.
Ah, the “justice” of capitalism – perhaps one day the Left may understand.
Many years ago before the advent of mimeographs, copiers and the like, copies were made using carbon paper. We used this hazardous material, it got all over our hands and contaminated everybody and everything. Does this make me eligible for a settlement and does anyone know a good lawyer?
More BS from Obama and the BS Kings. Lying, cheating, stealing sleezebags who profess to know everything but in reality know nothing (except greed). Wow, I am so very (not) proud.