CARSON CITY — U.S. Sen. John Ensign said Thursday he's trying to get the federal Energy Department to consider a project that would help a coal-fired power plant proposed by Sierra Pacific Resources for eastern Nevada.

Ensign, R-Nev., said he spoke two weeks ago with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman about adding the Ely Energy Center project to a list of possible locations for a demonstration project on ways to capture carbon dioxide produced by such plants and store it underground.

Carbon dioxide is the leading so-called "greenhouse gas" that is linked to global warming. It is a product of burning fossil fuels. Power plants account for nearly 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, about a third of the U.S. total.

The demonstration project option developed after the Energy Department decided in January to scrap a futuristic, low-pollution power plant planned for central Illinois.

Bodman's reaction, Ensign said, was that the Ely Energy Center "absolutely would on its surface be one of the projects that would qualify. It would have to compete against others, but there's certainly nothing that would disqualify it from being considered."

The FutureGen demonstration project would qualify for federal funding, although that would be separate from the basic power plant cost, now estimated at $5 billion or more.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has opposed the 1,500-megawatt Ely power plant, but Ensign said Reid might change his mind if the demonstration project would resolve concerns over carbon dioxide.

"I'm hoping that at least this will help him reconsider his position," Ensign said.

Ensign also repeated his support for the use of coal for generating power, calling the United States "the Saudi Arabia of coal."

The senator also repeated his argument that the proposed coal plant, along with two other plants proposed for Nevada, would make possible construction of power transmission lines that also could carry power generated by geothermal, wind and other renewable energy.

Ensign also said that if Bodman is replaced as energy secretary after President Bush leaves office, the odds of a demonstration project at the Ely Energy Center remain good because "it makes perfect sense from an environmental standpoint" no matter who becomes president.

The coal industry is on the political offensive this election year to ensure that it prospers no matter who wins in November. Billions of dollars in corporate profits are at stake for the companies.

The presidential candidates have been reluctant to draw a hard line against coal. Instead, they advocate government investments in new technologies to capture carbon from coal plants and store it underground.