Concerns throw Montana coal plans into limbo. Emissions-free coal plant’s cost worries feds

Three years into Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s first term, Montana has heard plenty about coal development — but a profound political shift is throwing serious coal plans here into limbo.

The shift comes because of concerns over global-warming, for “developing” coal means burning it, to produce electricity, natural gas or liquid fuel. Burning coal creates carbon-dioxide (CO2), which is the prime suspect in global warming.

Coal developers in Montana and across the nation expect Congress or the states or both to start regulating CO2 emissions.

By Mike Dennison

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2008/01/06/state_top/20080106_state_top.txt

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Emissions-free coal plant’s cost worries feds

The Energy Department likes the idea: Partnering with big power and coal companies to build a groundbreaking power plant in central Illinois that’s virtually emissions-free, trapping greenhouse gases and storing it underground.

But FutureGen’s ballooning $1.8 billion cost — largely on the backs of U.S. taxpayers — has the government so uneasy it wants the project’s consortium of corporate backers to rework the design to get the price down.

By Jim Suhr, Associated Press

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-01-06-futuregen_N.htm