Washington, D.C. — National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn issued the following comment on news that the Department of Energy (DOE) is suspending its funding for the FutureGen 2.0 public/private partnership.
“The Department of Energy’s decision to back out of its commitment to its U.S. industry partners to build the world’s first near zero-emissions, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) coal-fueled power plant calls into question the commitment of the Administration to the development of clean coal technologies. This decision cannot be reconciled with the Administration’s proposal to require CCS as the only acceptable technology for any new coal-fueled power plant in the U.S.
“Last month in his State of the Union, the president called for American leadership on addressing climate change. DOE’s decision signals a retreat from a transformative technology solution. FutureGen has secured the permits, possesses an investment-grade power purchase agreement and has broken ground. It is poised to demonstrate a first-of-a-kind technology for deploying our nation’s vast fossil fuel resources.”