Join us if you can:
Sierra Club's Annual Blues & Greens
Blues Bash @ Kingston Mines
with Linsey Alexander and the
Linsey Alexander Blues Band
Sunday, November 11
5 pm till 8 pm
Kingston Mines Blues Club
2548 North Halsted, Chicago
Tickets: $40
Join us for Chicago Blues,
down home cookin' and dancin'
Soul food buffet and cash bar
Non-smoking and family friendly - KIDS ARE FREE!
November 10, 2007
October 28, 2007
Hear That Giant Sucking Sound?
Today's Tribune has an article that explains why Sierra Club made having Illinois ratify the Great Lakes Compact one of our top legislative priorities of 2007. Indeed, we are emerging as a target for a thirsty country envisioning some very large straws pointing our way.
Good work by two lakefront legislators, State Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago) to get this done this year. Sierra Club volunteers met with their legislators earlier this year in their districts to stress the importance of getting this done this year. Now we need our Great Lakes neighbor states to do the same. (Minnesota already has).
Good work by two lakefront legislators, State Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago) to get this done this year. Sierra Club volunteers met with their legislators earlier this year in their districts to stress the importance of getting this done this year. Now we need our Great Lakes neighbor states to do the same. (Minnesota already has).
October 22, 2007
The Incredible Shrinking Great Lakes
Today's New York Times has an alarming story about the effect that low water levels throughout the Great Lakes are having on commercial shipping.
September 12, 2007
Road Looks Clear to Clean Cars
Today in Vermont, Judge William Sessions ruled against the automakers and for the Sierra Club, the states of Vermont and New York, and other environmental groups, and opened the door for states like Illinois to mandate cutting global warming emissions from cars. Over the vigorous objections of the automakers, he ruled that New York and Vermont may proceed with enacting the California Clean Car (Pavley) Standards, pending EPA approval. These standards, adopted by California and at least 11 other states, and proposed by pending state legislation in Springfield, will reduce global warming emissions from cars by 30 percent when fully implemented in 2016.
In Illinois, the cleaner standard would be required under House Bill 3424, sponsored by State Representative Karen May (D-Highland Park). State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan) has introduced similar legislation, Senate Bill 663. Clean cars have been recommended to Gov. Blagojevich by the Clean Car and Energy Efficiency Working Group he appointed in 2006, and most recently by the Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group.
Today’s ruling makes it very clear that Illinois indeed has the authority to choose cleaner, more efficient cars. Gov. Blagojevich and state lawmakers are considering proposals to bring cleaner cars to Illinois, and we urge them to act quickly so we can all start saving money at the gas pump, breathing cleaner air, and making a big dent in global warming pollution.
The cleaner car standard will mean more vehicle choices for Illinois drivers, so matter what kind of car you need, you will have choices that will go farther on a gallon of gas, and pollute less. Adopting California standards here will save Illinois drivers 3 billion gallons of gasoline per year by the year 2030, which will mean money that would have gone to big oil companies will instead stay in our pockets.
The faster Illinois chooses clean cars, the faster we all will enjoy the benefits, and a cleaner, more affordable future.
The decision can be found at:
http://www.vtd.uscourts.gov/Supporting%20Files/Cases/05cv302.pdf
In Illinois, the cleaner standard would be required under House Bill 3424, sponsored by State Representative Karen May (D-Highland Park). State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan) has introduced similar legislation, Senate Bill 663. Clean cars have been recommended to Gov. Blagojevich by the Clean Car and Energy Efficiency Working Group he appointed in 2006, and most recently by the Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group.
Today’s ruling makes it very clear that Illinois indeed has the authority to choose cleaner, more efficient cars. Gov. Blagojevich and state lawmakers are considering proposals to bring cleaner cars to Illinois, and we urge them to act quickly so we can all start saving money at the gas pump, breathing cleaner air, and making a big dent in global warming pollution.
The cleaner car standard will mean more vehicle choices for Illinois drivers, so matter what kind of car you need, you will have choices that will go farther on a gallon of gas, and pollute less. Adopting California standards here will save Illinois drivers 3 billion gallons of gasoline per year by the year 2030, which will mean money that would have gone to big oil companies will instead stay in our pockets.
The faster Illinois chooses clean cars, the faster we all will enjoy the benefits, and a cleaner, more affordable future.
The decision can be found at:
http://www.vtd.uscourts.gov/Supporting%20Files/Cases/05cv302.pdf
August 28, 2007
Clean Energy Bill Now Law!
The major new clean energy programs signed into law today by Governor Blagojevich are two major steps forward toward a cleaner, safer, and more affordable energy future for Illinois. After decades of dealing with the pollution and cost of relying solely on dirty coal and nuclear power, Illinois is now a national leader in promoting clean, renewable energy, and in helping consumer and businesses cut their electric bills by using less power.
The new requirement that 25% of Illinois’ electricity will come from renewable sources by the year 2025 will create new jobs in a pollution-free power industry. At the same time, utilities, the State of Illinois, and local governments will begin major new programs to reduce existing power use. By 2015, these programs are to cut existing power use 2% below today's levels. These conservation programs will deliver savings each and every month as our homes and businesses use less power. They will also create high-paying jobs in a clean, new energy economy.
By using less power overall, and by getting more and more of it from pollution-free sources like wind, Illinois is also taking two big steps to reducing our contribution to global warming. Scientists tell us that we need to reduce pollution by 80% to solve global warming, and that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the two most effective strategies for reaching these goals.
Historically, Illinois has lagged behind in implementing smart energy policies. Today, we move from the back of the pack to the head of the class in implementing smart energy policies for the future. This is one area where our leaders have agreed on major changes that are the right choices for Illiniosans today, and for our future.
The new requirement that 25% of Illinois’ electricity will come from renewable sources by the year 2025 will create new jobs in a pollution-free power industry. At the same time, utilities, the State of Illinois, and local governments will begin major new programs to reduce existing power use. By 2015, these programs are to cut existing power use 2% below today's levels. These conservation programs will deliver savings each and every month as our homes and businesses use less power. They will also create high-paying jobs in a clean, new energy economy.
By using less power overall, and by getting more and more of it from pollution-free sources like wind, Illinois is also taking two big steps to reducing our contribution to global warming. Scientists tell us that we need to reduce pollution by 80% to solve global warming, and that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the two most effective strategies for reaching these goals.
Historically, Illinois has lagged behind in implementing smart energy policies. Today, we move from the back of the pack to the head of the class in implementing smart energy policies for the future. This is one area where our leaders have agreed on major changes that are the right choices for Illiniosans today, and for our future.
August 24, 2007
BP: Put It in the Permit, Not Just the Press Release
We welcome BP's "promise" today to "not make use of the higher discharge limits" recently granted them by the State of Indiana. This is a welcome first step that BP has, perhaps belatedly, realized how much the people of this region love and depend on Lake Michigan, our Great Lake.
We now challenge BP to make this commitment not just in a press release, but in the legally binding permit they will operate under. That is the only way that the 12 million people who relay on Lake Michigan for drinking water will know for sure that the Clean Water Act will be there to enforce BP's new promise. Fixing the permit to require better pollution controls would add penalties if they fail to make good on this new commitment. That is the strongest guarantee that the people of this region can have that their water will get the best protection.
Every day Sierra Club works with other ammonia dischargers, mostly local governments on a strict budget, in this region to help them reduce their ammonia discharges to protect area waters. We stand ready to help BP identify solutions to help them avoid increasing ammonia discharges to the Lake. We are confident that if cash-strapped communities in Illinois can do it, so can BP.
Putting the promise in the permit will give this welcome new commitment the force of law. It will also erase the bad precedent the State of Indiana set by granting the original permit, and raise the bar for other industrial polluters around our Great Lake.
Put the promise in the permit, not just the press release.
We now challenge BP to make this commitment not just in a press release, but in the legally binding permit they will operate under. That is the only way that the 12 million people who relay on Lake Michigan for drinking water will know for sure that the Clean Water Act will be there to enforce BP's new promise. Fixing the permit to require better pollution controls would add penalties if they fail to make good on this new commitment. That is the strongest guarantee that the people of this region can have that their water will get the best protection.
Every day Sierra Club works with other ammonia dischargers, mostly local governments on a strict budget, in this region to help them reduce their ammonia discharges to protect area waters. We stand ready to help BP identify solutions to help them avoid increasing ammonia discharges to the Lake. We are confident that if cash-strapped communities in Illinois can do it, so can BP.
Putting the promise in the permit will give this welcome new commitment the force of law. It will also erase the bad precedent the State of Indiana set by granting the original permit, and raise the bar for other industrial polluters around our Great Lake.
Put the promise in the permit, not just the press release.
August 15, 2007
Summit on BP Pollution Proposal
I participated in a summit today at USEPA regional headquarters in Chicago on BP's proposal to increase pollution to Lake Michigan as part of their Whiting refinery expansion.
At the summit, there were many good ideas about how BP can do better - from citizen groups, the City of Chicago, and others. BP and Indiana didn't accept the recommendations, or commit to accepting them if they prove to be workable, but they didn't rule them out, either.
The closer we look at BP's proposal the more questions we have. I asked BP today about their mercury emissions, both directly into the lake in their wastewater, and through the air as part of a sludge incinerator they were operating on the property. They weren't prepared to answer that, but ultimately announced that they closed the incinerator in February of this year. If that's true, that is probably a postive step, although they didn't say where the sludge is going now.
Congressman Rahm Emmanuel did a great job of making crystal clear how angry and exercised the public and their elected officials are about this. He said that Lake Michigan is "our Grand Canyon, our Yellowstone," and claimed that BP wasn't being totally honest with the public about their reasons for avoiding full treatment of their effluent.
Unless BP wants to undo all the work they have done, and money they have spent, to build their image as a green company, at least in this major market, one has to believe they will soon come to their senses and adopt some of the promising alternatives that are coming forward from a variety of sources.
At the summit, there were many good ideas about how BP can do better - from citizen groups, the City of Chicago, and others. BP and Indiana didn't accept the recommendations, or commit to accepting them if they prove to be workable, but they didn't rule them out, either.
The closer we look at BP's proposal the more questions we have. I asked BP today about their mercury emissions, both directly into the lake in their wastewater, and through the air as part of a sludge incinerator they were operating on the property. They weren't prepared to answer that, but ultimately announced that they closed the incinerator in February of this year. If that's true, that is probably a postive step, although they didn't say where the sludge is going now.
Congressman Rahm Emmanuel did a great job of making crystal clear how angry and exercised the public and their elected officials are about this. He said that Lake Michigan is "our Grand Canyon, our Yellowstone," and claimed that BP wasn't being totally honest with the public about their reasons for avoiding full treatment of their effluent.
Unless BP wants to undo all the work they have done, and money they have spent, to build their image as a green company, at least in this major market, one has to believe they will soon come to their senses and adopt some of the promising alternatives that are coming forward from a variety of sources.
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