‘Futuregen’ Project Scrapped by Feds

  • FutureGen would burn coal and capture carbon dioxide produced in coal plants like this one. (Photo by Erin Toner)

The United States Department of Energy is pulling the plug on a state-of-the-art
power plant intended to demonstrate how coal could be burned cleanly. Amanda
Vinicky reports:

Transcript

The United States Department of Energy is pulling the plug on a state-of-the-art
power plant intended to demonstrate how coal could be burned cleanly. Amanda
Vinicky reports:


The FutureGen plant would burn coal without pollution by sequestering carbon
emissions underground.


President Bush called for FutureGen five years ago and repeated support for this kind of project in his
recent State of the Union speech:


“Let us fund new technologies that can generate coal power while capturing carbon emissions (applause
fade).”


But the Department of Energy says because of ballooning costs, it’s backing out.
Illinois Republican State Senator Dale Righter says it could kill the project planned
for his state:


“It was the right thing to do, in order to find new ways to produce energy using 21st
century technology. That idea is more expensive, as everyone knew it would be. But it’s still
the right thing to do.”


Congress could still salvage the FutureGen project.


For the Environment Report, I’m Amanda Vinicky.

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Bush Brushes Over Environment

  • Bush has spoke of plans to fund clean energy and reduce dependence on oil but did not elaborate on how he would put these plans into action. (Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov)

President Bush is echoing his past calls to wean the country from foreign oil, but his
most recent State of the Union speech quickly brushed over the topics of energy
independence and global warming:

Transcript

President Bush is echoing his past calls to wean the country from foreign oil, but his
most recent State of the Union speech quickly brushed over the topics of energy
independence and global warming:


The President says the U.S. is committed to energy security and confronting global
climate change:


“And the best way to meet these goals is for America to continue leading the way
toward the development of cleaner and more energy-efficient technology.”


The President called specifically for funding new clean coal technology. That came
at the same time his Energy Department pulled funding for a major clean coal
technology project in Illinois. Mr. Bush also called for better battery technology and
renewable fuels for automobiles, but did not mention additional government support
for research.


A proposed investment in clean energy in developing countries and completing an
international agreement on global warming was noted by environmental groups. But
then they criticized the Bush administration for not implementing a mandatory
greenhouse gas cap and trade program in the U.S.


For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

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Canada Falling Short on Kyoto Enforcement?

  • Smog hovers over Toronto as some at the Sierra Club of Canada worry about the government's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Photo by John Hornak)

Russia recently signed the Kyoto Protocol, jumpstarting the agreement in countries around the world. But in Canada, environmental groups fear their government isn’t doing enough to enforce the protocol. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly has more:

Transcript

Russia recently signed the Kyoto Protocol, jumpstarting the agreement in countries around the world. But in Canada, environmental groups fear their government isn’t doing enough to enforce the protocol. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:


The Canadian government has agreed to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent over the next eight years. And the government reiterated that commitment in the recent Speech from the Throne. It’s the Canadian equivalent of a State of the Union.


But John Bennett of the Sierra Club of Canada is concerned that there are still no laws that would force industry to reduce its emissions.


“Either we have the most naive politicians in the world, or they’re not very smart because they talk about cooperation, but industry does not want to go ahead and do this.”


So far, the Liberal government has tried to rely on voluntary agreements to reduce emissions. Officials have promised that no one industry or region of the country would bear a greater burden than others.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

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