Sep 30, 2010
Party down, Big Coal lobbyists! Give those Ameren utility dudes a raise.
After investing nearly $800,000 in political contributions, Big Coal utility giant Ameren just got confirmation that a pay off check for nearly $1 billion is in the mail, courtesy of US taxpayers.
Rock on, Energy Secretary Steven Chu!
All Ameren has to do is kinda sorta maybe refashion one of its coal-ash spewing World War II-era coal-fired and oil-burning plants into FutureGen 2.0--an infeasible, prohibitively expensive, accident and leak-prone,
and chimerical scheme of oxy-combustion technology that will sorta
kinda maybe capture, compress, pump and dump CO2 into Illinois' aquifers
and porous caverns.
Don't worry: The company helping Ameren built the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, so they're good to go.
And get this: Ameren is already sending its boys over to Illinois to soak the state's taxpayers for a probable hike in utility rakes to cover any costs not bankrolled by the federal "clean coal" welfare program.
As business leaders in Mattoon, Illinois noted recently,
after their town got shafted on the FUTUREGEN rollercoaster, they even
question why anyone wants to "become the 'dumping' ground for other
people's waste."
Good question. The answer, according to US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
is a handful of jobs. After receiving over $135,000 in political
contributions from Ameren and other Big Coal lobbyists, Durbin can now
crow that he pulled in $1 billion in US taxpayer funds from the federal
stimulus to create approximately "500 jobs, pipeline construction would add another 275, and there would be 75 new permanent jobs."
Do the math: Those are some expensive government-funded and subsidized jobs.
Too bad the cancer-plagued farmers contaminated by coal slurry in nearby Illinois communities never received such compensation.
Too bad nearby farmers are now losing their ancestral farm houses and fertile rows of corn to longwall mining and more coal slurry is slated for their aquifers.
Too bad Illinois coal miners who are dying daily from black lung disease can't get a little more of this pork.
FutureGen 2.0 is not even scheduled to sorta kinda operate on a
commercial scale for a decade, so we don't even need to note the issue
of peak coal and FutureGen's increased coal production needs.
No, today is party day for Big Coal and it utility partners, and Big Coal-bankrolled politicians like US. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of numerous books, including his latest: "Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition?" His previous works include: "State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream;" "The United States of Appalachia;" and "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland."
Party down, Big Coal lobbyists! Give those Ameren utility dudes a raise.
After investing nearly $800,000 in political contributions, Big Coal utility giant Ameren just got confirmation that a pay off check for nearly $1 billion is in the mail, courtesy of US taxpayers.
Rock on, Energy Secretary Steven Chu!
All Ameren has to do is kinda sorta maybe refashion one of its coal-ash spewing World War II-era coal-fired and oil-burning plants into FutureGen 2.0--an infeasible, prohibitively expensive, accident and leak-prone,
and chimerical scheme of oxy-combustion technology that will sorta
kinda maybe capture, compress, pump and dump CO2 into Illinois' aquifers
and porous caverns.
Don't worry: The company helping Ameren built the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, so they're good to go.
And get this: Ameren is already sending its boys over to Illinois to soak the state's taxpayers for a probable hike in utility rakes to cover any costs not bankrolled by the federal "clean coal" welfare program.
As business leaders in Mattoon, Illinois noted recently,
after their town got shafted on the FUTUREGEN rollercoaster, they even
question why anyone wants to "become the 'dumping' ground for other
people's waste."
Good question. The answer, according to US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
is a handful of jobs. After receiving over $135,000 in political
contributions from Ameren and other Big Coal lobbyists, Durbin can now
crow that he pulled in $1 billion in US taxpayer funds from the federal
stimulus to create approximately "500 jobs, pipeline construction would add another 275, and there would be 75 new permanent jobs."
Do the math: Those are some expensive government-funded and subsidized jobs.
Too bad the cancer-plagued farmers contaminated by coal slurry in nearby Illinois communities never received such compensation.
Too bad nearby farmers are now losing their ancestral farm houses and fertile rows of corn to longwall mining and more coal slurry is slated for their aquifers.
Too bad Illinois coal miners who are dying daily from black lung disease can't get a little more of this pork.
FutureGen 2.0 is not even scheduled to sorta kinda operate on a
commercial scale for a decade, so we don't even need to note the issue
of peak coal and FutureGen's increased coal production needs.
No, today is party day for Big Coal and it utility partners, and Big Coal-bankrolled politicians like US. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of numerous books, including his latest: "Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition?" His previous works include: "State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream;" "The United States of Appalachia;" and "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland."
Party down, Big Coal lobbyists! Give those Ameren utility dudes a raise.
After investing nearly $800,000 in political contributions, Big Coal utility giant Ameren just got confirmation that a pay off check for nearly $1 billion is in the mail, courtesy of US taxpayers.
Rock on, Energy Secretary Steven Chu!
All Ameren has to do is kinda sorta maybe refashion one of its coal-ash spewing World War II-era coal-fired and oil-burning plants into FutureGen 2.0--an infeasible, prohibitively expensive, accident and leak-prone,
and chimerical scheme of oxy-combustion technology that will sorta
kinda maybe capture, compress, pump and dump CO2 into Illinois' aquifers
and porous caverns.
Don't worry: The company helping Ameren built the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, so they're good to go.
And get this: Ameren is already sending its boys over to Illinois to soak the state's taxpayers for a probable hike in utility rakes to cover any costs not bankrolled by the federal "clean coal" welfare program.
As business leaders in Mattoon, Illinois noted recently,
after their town got shafted on the FUTUREGEN rollercoaster, they even
question why anyone wants to "become the 'dumping' ground for other
people's waste."
Good question. The answer, according to US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
is a handful of jobs. After receiving over $135,000 in political
contributions from Ameren and other Big Coal lobbyists, Durbin can now
crow that he pulled in $1 billion in US taxpayer funds from the federal
stimulus to create approximately "500 jobs, pipeline construction would add another 275, and there would be 75 new permanent jobs."
Do the math: Those are some expensive government-funded and subsidized jobs.
Too bad the cancer-plagued farmers contaminated by coal slurry in nearby Illinois communities never received such compensation.
Too bad nearby farmers are now losing their ancestral farm houses and fertile rows of corn to longwall mining and more coal slurry is slated for their aquifers.
Too bad Illinois coal miners who are dying daily from black lung disease can't get a little more of this pork.
FutureGen 2.0 is not even scheduled to sorta kinda operate on a
commercial scale for a decade, so we don't even need to note the issue
of peak coal and FutureGen's increased coal production needs.
No, today is party day for Big Coal and it utility partners, and Big Coal-bankrolled politicians like US. Sen. Dick Durbin.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.