Our question as we arrived in Mattoon was: what do people in town think of FutureGen?

We Support FutureGen

The answer became obvious nearly every storefront we passed in Mattoon had a sign in the window saying: "We Support FutureGen."

This town understands what a great boost the plant will be to the local economy - it will provide clean energy jobs and attract the best and brightest students to nearby colleges and universities who want to be a part of it. They also understand what this technology will mean to the rest of the world.

What's it like inside a power plant?

For one thing, it's cleaner than you think. As you walk inside, machinery is humming along - earplugs are required.

Someone who hasn't seen a power plant since the 1950s probably wouldn't recognize one today, due to all the additional environmental technology to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollutants.

The MidAmerican Energy plant we toured uses the best available environmental control technology to minimize emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.

This is clean coal technology in action!

Located four miles south of Council Bluffs, Iowa, MidAmerican Energy's Walter Scott Energy Center is one of the cleanest of its kind in North America.

It generates more than 1,600 megawatts of affordable electricity, which has a positive long-term economic impact on the region (a region that includes a Google data facility).

The on-site settling pond provides successful nesting sites for two endangered bird species: the piping plover and the least tern.

The facility employs over 200 people with an annual payroll of about $17.5 million. And it pays over $7 million in annual property tax.