China, Coal, and Carbon Capture

The Department of Energy … will embark upon a $1 billion initiative to design, build and operate the first coal-fired, emissions-free power plant—FutureGen.

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, 2003

The thing went south.

Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell, 2008

FutureGen is history. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman pulled the plug on “the thing,” as his deputy called it, in January 2008. Five years earlier, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham had announced FutureGen would be “one of the boldest steps our nation takes toward a pollution-free energy future.” He was talking about the world’s first clean coal-fired power plant.