WASHINGTON — With electricity woes in California focusing attention on the nation's energy supplies, some powerful senators are pushing a plan to boost coal use by offering money for research into cleaner-burning methods and tax breaks for utilities that use them.

        Critics decry the “clean coal” effort as corporate welfare that promotes air pollution.

        West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acknowledge that coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. But they say research into ways to burn it more cleanly is a good investment because coal is abundant and cheap.

        The senators have introduced legislation authorizing $1 billion over 10 years for research and up to $6 billion in tax breaks in the next decade for utilities to refurbish plants or build new facilities using emerging technologies.

        “We haven't done nearly as much in that field as we should. We can produce this power cleanly,” said Mr. McConnell, whose home state ranks third in coal production.

        Opponents argue that coal never will be as clean as natural gas or renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power.

        “The bottom line is there is this concept that we're going to make coal a clean fuel. That in itself is a misconception,” said Lexi Shultz, an environmental lawyer with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

        Seventeen senators — nine Republicans and eight Democrats — are co-sponsoring the Byrd-McConnell bill, which has the critical support of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska. He incorporated much of their legislation into a comprehensive energy bill introduced last week.

        President Bush also demonstrated his support for clean-coal efforts by proposing that $2 billion be spent over 10 years for research and development projects.

        Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and a co-sponsor of the Byrd-McConnell bill, said coal-fired plants in his state have helped make the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the most polluted in the nation. Finding ways to more cleanly burn coal will reduce pollution, he said.

        “Our ultimate goal in this effort is clean air,” Mr. Thompson said.

        Not everyone believes that.

        “I don't want to prolong an energy source that will ultimately hurt us in the long term,” said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “The incentives ought to be toward cleaner-burning fuels.”

        Emissions from coal-fired power plants include nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog, and carbon dioxide, which some blame for global warming.

        Environmentalists are upset that the Senate bills would exempt utilities using the new technologies from some emissions rules. They say that until the technologies are proven, the utilities should be required to meet all clean air laws.

        Cena Swisher, program director for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, questioned the need for the bills when the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department already give utilities incentives to reduce pollution and money for research.

        “The bottom line for us is that it's corporate welfare,” Ms. Swisher said.

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