Shimkus vows to keep project alive

May 09, 2008 12:32 pm

— Listen To The Story
Staff Report
WASHINGTON — U.S. Congressman John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, reacted to the draft funding opportunity announcement made by the U.S. Department of Energy for a “restructured” FutureGen program.
“The DOE is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars in pursuing a multiple-site program when the original FutureGen project site in Mattoon is ready to go,” Shimkus said. “Only by building FutureGen as originally planned will we begin to fulfill the goals outlined by President Bush in his State of the Union Address in 2003.
“I am working with the Illinois congressional delegation to see that Congress continues to fund the original project.
“We are debating now at what levels the federal government will be funded under the next presidential administration. FutureGen has been my priority since its inception in 2003, and by making its funding level my No. 1 request to the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, it remains so.”