The New York Times (pg. C8), December 19, 2007

ILLINOIS TOWN CHOSEN AS SITE FOR NEW TYPE OF COAL PLANT

By The New York Times

WASHINGTON -- An industry consortium planning a coal plant that will capture its carbon dioxide and pump it underground selected a site near Mattoon, Ill., on Tuesday for the $1.5 billion project. A second site in Illinois and two in Texas had been considered..

But the project, called FutureGen, faces financing problems; the price is up from an original estimate of $750 million. The budget deal concluded in Congress on Sunday gives it $75 million for its first year, $33 million less than the Bush administration's request.

The project will create 700 construction jobs and more than 100 jobs when the plant operates. The Mattoon site, in southern Illinois, won in part because the storage area is meant to be directly beneath the plant and the builders could get clear legal title to it.