Bush budget scraps loan for coal-to-oil plant

President Bush's budget has left out a $100 million low-interest loan for the heavily polluting coal-to-oil plant planned for Schuylkill County, the Pottsville Republican reports.

Besides emitting a significant amount of toxic chemicals in communities already facing serious environmental threats, the facility is also expected to release an enormous amount of greenhouse gas pollution -- far more than originally estimated. The summary of an international scientific report released last week linked such pollution to dramatic and dangerous climatic changes already underway around the globe.

But area politicians have already sprung into action to save the project, which is led by local waste-coal-burning mogul and political contributor John W. Rich Jr., according to the paper:

"I've been on the phone all day trying to get an explanation for this," said U.S. Rep. T. Timothy Holden, D-17. "To redirect the money without explanation is unbelievable ... We were all blindsided."

Holden said he and U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., have been trying to make appointments with the administration to discuss the sudden change of heart.

In a press statement released Monday on the 2008 budget, Specter said: "I am opposed to the president's proposal to rescind $100 million to fund the nation's first coal-to-diesel plant in Schuylkill County, which is vital for exploring and developing our nation's alternative energy sources. As a senior appropriator, I am sure the president's budget will be thoroughly revised in accordance with the constitutional provision which gives Congress the authority to determine spending levels."

Gov. Ed Rendell (D) also called for restoring fundings to the project in a Feb. 7 press release, repeating the oft-told lie that such heavily polluting technology is somehow "clean":

"The president, in his State of the Union address, promised to promote clean coal technologies and lead the charge for cutting America's reliance on oil, but his new budget instead cuts funding for a very promising solution to our energy needs," Governor Rendell said. "I am calling on the president to reverse course, keep his word and restore the funding for America’s first waste-coal-to-diesel plant."