This story breaks the news; however it quotes only the banks and the coal companies. "Citing costs, the U.S. government last week pulled support for a project called FutureGen that many utilities saw as a step toward burning coal cleanly." And what did other folks say about the technology which would have turned coal into synthetic gas while pumping CO2 underground for storage in Mattoon, Ill.. MIT, for instance. And how does this all relate to carbon taxes v.s. cap and trade. Some maintain that if we had already implemented a suitable carbon-tax, then the utilities would have undertaken innovative coal technology with their own capital or switched to the same things the banks are...

good story as far as it goes. it provides a look at the future and possible incentives for hastening the reducition of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. it could have been better with more information regarding the new technology possibilities for cleaner coal which it mentions, expert guesses on timelines, etc. and i'd like to have read more from sources about the government withdrawal of support for the futuregen project.

Again, 'THE' financial' newspaper doesn't provide a full picture associated with the subject. This "What is earth-shakingly different between now and two years ago is the focus on CO2," says Eric Fornell, vice chairman of J.P. Morgan's natural-resources banking division." is but one example, meaning it neglects to mention the Bush Administration going back on it's campaign statements by removing CO2 from it's environmental standards and how that was tied to Cheney's task force and the emphasis on nuclear energy and the financing issues associated with building new nuclear plants...

The story from the right rich republican rag of business reflects some potentially positive financing news on the global warming front. The question of effects of downstream electricity costs to consumers and alternative energy is not fully addressed.

Quotes from experts and shows some digging....best WSJ in a while! Usual omissions of inconvenient info.