WASHINGTON -- Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., questioned Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Thursday over funding cuts to clean coal technologies in President Bush's proposed 2007 budget as other Western lawmakers also criticized the cuts and vowed to restore funding.

At a Senate Energy Committee hearing on the department's budget, Thomas pressed Bodman about the proposed reductions in Bush's budget for coal-to-gas conversion, clean coal technologies and research and development funds.

Thomas said the budget focuses on long-term projects he supports but does not address short-term energy issues facing the country. He told Bodman that private interests in Wyoming have real opportunities to implement coal-to-gas conversion technologies but that they need some federal assistance.

"I'm talking about doing something in the next two, three years to convert coal to gas," Thomas said. "And yet there's not much support for that in this budget."

Bodman replied that conversion technologies are "simply a priority."

"We can't do everything and so this is what the process produced as a balance between where we think the real impact can be from the department, and I can't say anything more than that," Bodman said.

Thomas also questioned Bodman on clean coal technologies.

"We talk constantly about the need for coal, we talk constantly about global warming and so on, and here's one of the things we need to do and I notice in the energy bill that it's zeroed out," Thomas said.

Bodman said money put into the program in past years has not been spent.

"The various winners of these projects have not been able to spend the money effectively," he said. "That is what caused the reduction, that we would pause a year and work on getting the backlog worked out and get either progress made or make a determination that some of these things weren't going to work and get the money back."

Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., also expressed disappointment with Bush's proposed overall funding levels for clean coal research.

"The president's budget is just a request, though," she said in a statement. "Congress holds the purse strings. During this budget session I will work with my colleagues who believe clean coal technology is a priority as we continue to work to fully utilize this nation's most abundant energy resource."

Bush's budget requests $330 million in coal research and development, down 12 percent from the $376 million in fiscal year 2006.

In his State of the Union speech, Bush pledged to invest more in "zero-emission coal-fired plants" and his budget would increase funding for FutureGen, a futuristic low-emissions power plant.

But Bush requested $5 million for the Clean Coal Power Initiative, down from $50 million last year. That initiative is designed by 2010 to begin demonstration of advanced higher-efficiency, less-polluting technologies in coal-fired power plants.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., "absolutely" has concerns over cuts to clean coal technologies, said spokesman Matt Mackowiak.

"Unfortunately CCPI is a popular place for every administration to cut," Mackowiak said. "This happens seems like every year, and it seems like we always have to fight to restore funds for CCPI."

Burns will team up with other coal-state senators to increase funding, noting that it would bring jobs to Montana's economy while moving the country toward Bush's goal of energy independence.

"We're going to do whatever we can to make sure clean coal technologies are funded at whatever level they should be," Mackowiak said.

The budget zeroes out the Clean Coal Technology Program. It would cancel $203 million in prior-year balances, transferring $54 million from the program to FutureGen.

That would be an increase of $36 million for FutureGen over fiscal year 2006. The budget also would provide a $203 million advance appropriation for FutureGen for fiscal year 2008.

The $1 billion FutureGen public-private partnership aims to begin operation by 2012 of a "near-zero emissions" 275-megawatt prototype plant that will use coal to produce electricity and hydrogen and will sequester carbon dioxide emissions.

Thomas also sent a letter to Bodman this week expressing disappointment that Bush's budget did not include funding for the Western Integrated Coal Gasification Demonstration Project, a project Thomas successfully worked to include in the energy bill. Thomas urged Bodman to find money for the project.

"Current commercial offerings for integrated gasification combined cycle technology (IGCC) are not entirely suited for the West," Thomas wrote. "Realizing the full potential for Powder River Basin and other western coals requires adapting current commercial IGCC technology to maximize its performance on lower rank coals."