Illinois lawmakers pledged their support to the FutureGen project in a bipartisan letter to President Bush following the project’s cancelation Wednesday.

The FutureGen Alliance chose Mattoon, Ill. on Dec. 18 for the site of its future energy-efficient power plant, among 12 cities nationwide. The alliance planned to build a near-zero emission, coal-fueled plant that would be helpful for the industry, as well as for the environment.

Mattoon city officials, Illinois legislators, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the U.S. Department of Energy expressed support for the program despite growing concerns over the increasing cost in recent months.

“FutureGen is too important, nationally and internationally, to fall victim to political games,” Blagojevich said in a statement released Wednesday.

In a meeting Tuesday with the Illinois congressional delegation, the DOE announced its plans to go in a different direction.

“We were informed by your Secretary of Energy (Sam Bodman) that he was radically restructuring the FutureGen project – effectively killing the program in Central Illinois,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to President Bush.

After five years of planning, many lawmakers said they were surprised at the decision to cancel the project that was planned to be fully functional by 2013.

“There is no rational reason for them to do this,” said Phil Bloomer, the press secretary for Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.). “The scientific and environmental community had been pursuing this for five years.”

Rep. Johnson and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) spoke with President Bush Wednesday afternoon, Bloomer said. He said Bush listened to the legislators’ concerns and told Johnson and Shimkus he would take them under advisement. The two men hope to meet with the president again next week.

“This was a political decision on the part of the administration,” Bloomer said. “If the site in Texas had been chosen, I don’t think we would be having this discussion right now.”

The DOE maintains that the decision had nothing to do with political games.

“It is outrageous to imply that it is politically motivated,” said Julie Ruggiero, DOE spokeswoman. “The decision was based on principle and the interest of taxpayers and the environment.”

Ruggiero said the program is being restructured to better utilize the technology and funding available. The DOE issued a request for information Wednesday and will be accepting proposals for new projects until March 3. The FutureGen Mattoon project is eligible to reapply.

“Our goal is to meet growing energy demand while minimizing emissions,” Ruggiero said.

The FutureGen Alliance issued a statement Wednesday announcing their continued support of the Mattoon site, in spite of Bodman’s announcement.

“The Alliance remains committed to keeping FutureGen on track,” said Michael Mudd, the chief executive officer of the FutureGen Alliance in the statement. “Climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions.”