It all comes down to jobs in your district to get elected.  And as crazy as FutureGen is, it will create jobs in Illinois.  Bogus, make-work jobs that compromise the long term health of the economy I will grant you, but jobs nonetheless.

Bottom line - I'm with you.  Neither surprised, nor particularly disappointed.

...for me to support him fully. Now that my Johnny E. has gone the way of Mike Gravel (has Gravel gone away yet?), I will be supporting another candidate.

I've said it a hundred times before. If Obama wants to win in the purple states of the American West next Tuesday, he needs to speak directly to our big issues (i.e. climate, energy, environment).

Although Colorado certainly has a strong presence in the coal industry, there are just as many people here who want to move away from coal - clean or otherwise

Tim Hurst ecopolitology.org

Obama is for 100% auction

and will accept nothing less

(until elected)

He's really vulnerable on his support for this boondoggle.  Barack the lobbyist friendliest candidate.

He had a dream.  A million dollar home.  He couldn't afford it so his indicted friend and former employer got him a deal.

I bet he has other dreams.  A 10 million dollar home, or two, or three?  Take care of that ethanol, nuclear, and clean coal lobbies.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

They will be commisioned, according to the update article.  It's about the same for nukes started up now.  That leaves eight years to beat them.

Renewable distributed smart grid technology, including affordable solar PV and wind, plugin hybrids, biogas waste recycling/organic farming,and geo heat exchange heating/cooling is ready now.

An administration that will back these over coal, nukes, and fuel farming would be helpfull.

And a democratic house and senate.  These political types must be baraged with our schpeil, 'til it blocks out the lobyyist's cash wagging braying.

Divert subsidies for big energy and ag to this new energy, transportation, and farm policy.  

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

I have no idea whether coal is good for Obama's constituency, [I rather doubt it, if it were me, I'd spend it on supporting more things like efficiency improvements, encouraging investments in industries like wind-turbines, etc.]

I simply point out that if there's a pot of "free" Federal money to be had, then it is very hard for state legislators to resist competing for it, even if the usage of it is to build bridges to nowhere or even pyramid-equivalents. (jobs! bring home the bacon for the district!)

The general idea of CCS is less bad than those, after all, even James Hansen says it's important.

The issue is whether or not this particular CCS example is a good usage of money.  R&D is supposed to follow "progressive commitment":
research
applied research
exploratory development
development
scaleup and deployment

[At least, when I was at Bell Labs, that's what we did, usually; when we didn't (occasionally) we wasted a lo of money.]
In general, it is a bad idea to go to 5 until you've done the others.  I can't tell offhand where this plant falls in that scale.  Maybe Sean Casten can comment?

-John Mashey

Fund raising is corrupt.  All across the spectrum of US politics.  The Clintons have been thoroughly investigated already.  

Barack's missteps are just coming out.  They must be exposed during the primary so that they aren't swiftboat fodder in the general election.

Look what happened to Sen Kerry.  We really need to win this time around.  McCain wants an indefinite commitment in Iraq.  Will that entail an ongoing cold war with Iran and the rest of the ME countries?

What about the rest of the potential jihad spawning areas?  Only one fifth of the muslim world lives in the ME.  This corporate christian crusade (for oil and minerals)needs to be qwelled, not expanded.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

Sindark is right, the apparent death of F Gen is nothing to cheer about, it's not like the money won't go to other coal projects.  Funny the Ill legislators are complaining polititx is trumping science in this particular coal matter (for TX sake), as if it isn't always the case.  Mattoon will get over it.  

A BO POTUS will likely split the difference and give both TX and ILL more coal subsidies.  Illinois is about the most corrupt pay-to-play state in the union with a lot of nuke and coal $ around, that is BO's constituency.  Protecting the health of the planet and those on it and preserving its resources is secondary.

Amazingdrx wrote: affordable solar PV and wind

If there would be anything affordable about solar PV and wind, it would be partly the fault of subsidization by coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, and oil. Eliminate the latter, and any affordability of the former likewise vanishes.