Letter to Sam Bodman, Secretary of the Department of Energy, Re: FutureGen Contract Extension

Letter

Letter to Sam Bodman, Secretary of the Department of Energy, Re: FutureGen Contract Extension

Durbin: Without FutureGen Contract Extension, DOE Nominees - Kupfer and Slutz - Will Not be Confirmed

After meeting with Acting Deputy Secretary of Energy, Jeffrey Kupfer at the Department of Energy (DOE) nominee's request, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin sent a message to the Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman reiterating his intention to hold all DOE nominations until the agency's cooperative agreement with the FutureGen Alliance is extended through the next Administration. In addition to Kupfer, Durbin also has placed a hold on the nomination of James A. Slutz to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy).

"We know your position on FutureGen, Mr. Secretary. And the Illinois Delegation firmly rejects it. Let's agree to allow the next Administration to decide the fate of this innovative project. Extending the contract you recently terminated is the right thing to do for our nation's energy policy," Durbin wrote. "Without an indication of support from your Department for moving forward with the FutureGen project - the President's signature clean coal initiative - or, at least, extending the contract, I will be unable to help confirm these nominations."

Earlier this month, Durbin joined with Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) in urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to include language in the upcoming Infrastructure Supplemental Appropriations bill to extend the Department of Energy's cooperative agreement with the current FutureGen Alliance. This extension will direct the Department of Energy to reinstate the cooperative agreement for the FutureGen program and preserve the program and previously appropriated funds for the next administration to decide the best way to move forward with FutureGen.

Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Durbin is a member, voted to protect $134 million of previously appropriated funding for FutureGen until the next administration. The Energy and Water Appropriations bill passed by a bipartisan group of senators also includes language prohibiting the Department of Energy from using the funds for its new restructured clean coal program.

Text of the letter appears below:

August 1, 2008

The Honorable Sam Bodman
Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585

Dear Secretary Bodman:

Yesterday, I met with Jeffrey Kupfer, the Acting Deputy Secretary of Energy, at his request. I asked him to convey a message.

Simply put, that message is you should reconsider your termination of the FutureGen project in Mattoon, Illinois, and reinstate the Department's contract with the FutureGen Alliance.

We know your position on FutureGen, Mr. Secretary. And the Illinois Delegation firmly rejects it. Let's agree to allow the next Administration to decide the fate of this innovative project. Extending the contract you recently terminated is the right thing to do for our nation's energy policy.

I'm aware of Mr. Kupfer's nomination as well as the recent nomination of James A. Slutz to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy). Without an indication of support from your Department for moving forward with the FutureGen project - the President's signature clean coal initiative - or, at least, extending the contract, I will be unable to help confirm these nominations.

Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

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