CONGRESSMAN TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON | Representing the 15th Congressional District of Illinois

Washington, Jul 14, 2009 - Rep. Timothy V. Johnson issued the following statement today upon the U.S. Department of Energy’s issuance of its Record of Decision on FutureGen.

“This is an important milestone in the evolution of this project,” Rep. Johnson said. “This is a fulfillment of a promise by DOE that certifies that these plans meet all environmental requirements. The decision further allows work to proceed on site-specific design in Mattoon, a site that will showcase to the world our ability to burn coal cleanly and run our power grids independent of foreign oil.

I am grateful to DOE Secretary Steven Chu and to the FutereGen partners for staying the course in the face of many challenges. Challenges remain but I remain eager to help bring this promising technology to fruition.