The Department of Energy held it's scoping meeting for creating the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Penwell Site. The event was a bit unique, but full of Rah-Rah public statements and "Chamber of Commerce" speak. The President of the Odessa Chamber went into his chamber schtick by saying "..and we can perform minimally invasive heart surgery on a beating heart..." among other things unrelated to FutureGEN or the environmental impact of the project.

The Texas NAACP Representative, who specializes in "Environmental Justice" issues, was very upbeat about the project and stated it was the rare occasion that the "environmentalists were on the same side as the governmental and business interests."

I'm sure the scoping team will receive a flood of written comments from the usual suspects, but only two members of the general public even had anything slightly critical to say about the project.

One pointed out that the technology used in FutureGEN is not new, but the CO2 capture is. He also pointed out that TXU is looking to build dozens of coal plants right now, and was concerned that it would be difficult to force retrofits of these plants once the FutureGEN CO2 technologies were refined. He also expressed concerns for getting China and India to implement these CO2 capture technologies. He also expressed concern over the water issues and the availability of "Capitan Reef Water" and "Ogallala Water" for the site.

The other was a self professed member of the Sierra Club, but spoke on his own behalf. Even he was supportitive of the project and the technology, but had concerns about strip mining of coal in East Texas, mercury polluted streams in West Virginia from coal mining activities, rights of surface owners versus mineral owners, concerns about railroads interferring with wildlife patterns, concerns about javalina and mule deer, and concerns about the view from the Caprock out over the Pecos Valley. However, he didn't really condemn the project.

I'd have taken his points on the views and wildlife more seriously if it wasn't for the fact we're talking about Penwell. He kind of ignored the existing condition kown as Rhodes tank "collection", the Southdown Cement Plant, the Railroad and the Interstate. I guess he also missed the part where the Odessa Development Corporation is pledging money to "totally clean up Penwell" if FutureGEN is sited there.

I'm hopeful, but as of now I figure FutureGEN is 70% political and 30% technical when it comes to siting the plant, and don't let anyone tell you differently.