House Investigation: Bush DOE Deliberately Gave False FutureGen #s In Order To Kill Project

[hatrack]

EDIT

The majority staff report to the House Committee on Science and Technology said the Department of Energy's (DOE) cost comparisons were not accurate and were designed to undercut the FutureGen coal plant project and eventually kill it.

The report accused the Bush administration of never fully committing to the project and said FutureGen was "nothing more than a public relations ploy for Bush administration officials to make it appear to the public and the world that the United States was doing something to address global warming."

The DOE said in December 2007 it would restructure its FutureGen coal plant project due to escalating costs. The department's initial cost estimate of about $950 million for FutureGen, which would have captured and stored carbon emissions from a large coal-fired plant, was not adjusted for inflation or rising commodity costs.

The report said a later cost projection of $1.8 billion cited by the DOE when it shelved FutureGen was not comparable to the initial projected costs because it accounted for inflation and other price increases. "It is difficult to believe that anyone working at the top levels of DOE or the White House, both of which deal with many multi-year clean-up, research and defense projects ... did not know the difference between 'constant' and 'as spent' dollars or even ask how the $1.8 billion figure was obtained," the congressional staff report said.

EDIT

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1130548520090311

[aquart]

1. They lied? What a surprise.

AND YET THEY ARE NOT IN JAIL.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Well… how about "and they are not yet in jail"

(Just move one word…)

[JohnWxy]

3. The math error was $500 Million .

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/03/09/daily42.html


I wonder if the nuke group had anything to do with this?

In the Bush administration lobbyists were used to write (or rewrite) technical reports. (remember the report on Global Warming and CO2 production editted by a lobbyist a few yeares ago?).


Recommended. bookmarked.

[JohnWxy]

4. here's a link to GAO's report (very short)

CLEAN COAL DOE Should Prepare a Comprehensive Analysis of the Relative Costs, Benefits, and Risks of a Range of Options for FutureGen



Contrary to best practices, DOE did not base its decision to restructure
FutureGen on a comprehensive analysis of factors such as the associated
costs, benefits, and risks. DOE based its decision largely on its conclusion
that costs for the original FutureGen had doubled and would escalate
substantially. However, this conclusion was problematic because it was
derived from a comparison of two cost estimates for the original
FutureGen that were not comparable; DOE’s $950 million estimate was in
constant 2004 dollars, while the $1.8 billion estimate of DOE’s industry
partners was inflated through 2017. (my emphasis_JW)