I’ve written previously about FutureGen, the 2 billion dollar earmark and power-plant boondoggle in the stimulus package. Over at Planet Gore, Pollowitz notes that a new CBO estimate says that because of a math error building the environmentally friendly Illinois power plant should cost $500 million less than previously thought. Dick Durbin seems pleased as punch at this development. But why? This doesn’t answer the criticisms about whether we should be employing the more cost-efficient technologies available, and it doesn’t sudddenly make the project fiscally responsible either. So instead of creating 2,675 jobs (most of which are temporary) at a cost of $670,000 a piece, each job will only cost taxpayers $485,000. And that’s assuming the project comes in at the projected cost.