Durbin to quiz energy secretary about FutureGen alternatives

WASHINGTON -- Illinois Senator Dick Durbin will quiz the head of the Energy Department about why that agency scrapped plans to build a clean-coal power plant in central Illinois.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is scheduled to testify before a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee Thursday. The Bush administration dropped plans for the so-called FutureGen plant in Mattoon after saying the costs had become too prohibitive.

The agency now wants to pursue alternatives, including several smaller projects around the country.

But Durbin, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat and a member of the appropriations committee, wants to keep the Mattoon option open until a new president is elected.