"Clean Coal," Nuclear Spending Removed From Stimulus

Somebody in the capital must have seen those "Reality" ads where the kindly man in the construction helmet offers a tour of a clean coal facility, only to take the viewer on a tour of nothing. When the bill left the Senate, it contained $4.6 billion for coal technology, but when the Senate and House unveiled their new version of the stimulus, that promise had disappeared:

The Senate version of the bill had contained $4.6 billion for the research and development of carbon-capture-and-sequestration technologies for coal-fired power plants and $50 billion in loan guarantees for the nuclear industry, but that funding appears to have been dropped entirely, to the delight of enviros.

"This is a huge win, for our planet and for taxpayers who want stimulus funds to be invested wisely," said Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder. "The bailout in question would have thrilled nuclear industry lobbyists but done virtually nothing to stimulate the economy. Congressional leaders did the right thing and prevented waste by removing this bailout."

UPDATE: The Wonk Room has specifics on what's left in the stimulus for coal.