DEFENSE BILL STUDY COULD BOLSTER DEVELOPMENT OF COAL-TO-FUEL PLANTS

An amendment to the defense authorization bill requires the Defense and Energy departments to develop a plan for building plants that turn coal into liquid fuel, which the military and some coal state governors favor but which environmentalists oppose because they question proponents' claims about the plants' environmental benefits. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) included the amendment as a way to ease the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Byrd is also seeking to convince the nation to launch a high-profile "space...