• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants to get funding for FutureGen — the proposed “zero emissions” coal plant that the Bush administration axed due to ballooning costs — into the stimulus package. Durbin said Thursday that he got a “positive response” when he discussed it with energy secretary nominee Steven Chu. His state-mate Barack Obama pushed to revive the plant back when he was just a senator.
• At a hearing on Thursday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) announced the newest Democratic members of his committee (though their appointments aren’t yet final): Evan Bayh (Ind.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), and two new senators, Mark Udall (Colorado) and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire).
• It’s looking increasingly likely that Wall Street big-wig Steve Rattner, who works for the private investment firm Quadrangle Group, will be named as Obama’s “car czar.”
