The Ax Falls on the IDNR

Illinois Democrats may be hugging out in Denver, but back home on Thursday 39 IDNR employees were notified that they'll be out of a job November 1st as a result of budget cuts announced by Governor Blagojevich in July.

Eleven state parks and fifteen state historic sites will close. The state parks that will close November 1st are:

* Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park
* Illini State Park near Marseilles
* Wolf Creek State Park
* Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
* Lowden State Park, Oregon
* Hidden Springs State Forest, Strasburg
* Channahon Parkway State Park, Channahon
* Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris
* Kickapoo State Park, Oakwood
* Moraine View State Park, Leroy
* Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton

These layoffs and closings would be totally unnecessary if our leaders in Springfield would get together on a budget solution. There is still time - but the Governor's action Thursday started the clock ticking.

We need the General Assembly and the Governor to act before the end of September to restore the cuts, keep these parks open, and keep those who run them and look out for our natural resources on the job.

Denver's Green Streak

I am out in Denver for the convention this week, and am just amazed at the level of discussion around energy and environmental issues. At times it has felt more like a clean energy conference with politics in the background.

This is not just a steady, incremental increase in focus compared to past conventions - energy policy is now squarely at the center of the debate over America's future. The combination of global warming, energy prices, national security concerns, and, increasingly, the potential for green job creation has changed the public debate with lightning speed.

I've been at a whole host of discussions, receptions, panels, etc on aspects of the energy and environmental debate, with corporate leaders, environmental advocates, elected officials, labor leaders, and others. Many politicians are making energy the focus of their speeches (wasn't Gov. Schweizer (MT) great on Tuesday night?), and it is rare that a speech on any topic doesn't include a call to solve global warming and create green jobs.

Don't get me wrong - the status quo is certainly out in force. The coal industry is visible from the moment you step off the plane at the airport to ubiquitous paid people on the street passing out "clean coal" propoganda. The Illinois delegation goodie bag included a foam lump of "coal", a nice souvenir for the kids. However, elected officials here are generally on message that solutions lie in the future, not in the past. Solar, wind, and conservation are the applause-getters in speeches. As Illinoisans, we can all be proud that we have already passed some of the solutions leaders are talking about for America - like our 25% renewable energy requirement by 2025, or our major new energy efficiency programs that ComEd are preparing to roll out in response to 2007's clean energy law.

So tonight, there are lots of reasons to be proud to be from Illinois - let's keep it up!

IDNR On The Chopping Block

OK, we get it. The state's finances are about as solid as the "quaking bog" at Volo Bog State Natural Area. There seem to be as many bones of contention and disagreements between legislative leaders and the Governor as grains of sand at Illinois Beach State Park.

However, I think all of our leaders would tell you that the cuts to the Department of Natural Resources' budget that take effect Thursday are undesirable and unnecessary. And yet, while our state parks were full of people this week enjoying the great outdoors, mostly unaware of the looming threat to their ability to have that experience, our state capitol was empty of the leadership needed to solve the problem. The cuts that will devastate the IDNR go into effect without any last-minute drama or frantic attempts to reverse them by any of the leaders who could do so.

That, campers, is the sad state of affairs in our state capitol.

Oh, there are a lot of people working hard to reverse the cuts. Sierra Club and our allies in the Partners for Parks and Wildlife coalition held events at parks across the state Tuesday. We were joined by a remarkably diverse group of local elected officials, economic development advocates, outdoor recreation groups, educators, and more, all motivated on very short notice by the prospect of the unthinkable: an Illinois DNR, already strained by staff reductions going back to 2001, facing massive layoffs and the probability of park closures, environmental protection programs eliminated or scaled even further back, and recreation and education opportunities eliminated. We are looking at the sudden termination of a project to ensure adequate drinking water supplies downstate and in Chicago's suburbs, of efforts to make sure we don't put people and property at increased flood risk by regulating floodplain development, and letting go the scientists who we count on to protect the Prairie State's natural heritage for future generations.

The participation in these events was very strong, the media coverage widespread - see some of it below. Will it make a difference?

It's not too late. Yes, Governor Blagojevich's cuts take effect Thursday, but the pink slips don't have to go out right away to the people protecting our water, wildlife, and natural heritage. The Governor can keep the Department running at current levels, and commit to passing a supplemental appropriations bill to restore funding to pre-cut levels. The members and leaders of the Illinois General Assembly can agree to pass such a bill at their earliest opportunity.

Now that would take actually talking to each other, and leading. I think we all hope that that's still possible. If not, the damage will not be temporary - it will take a decade or more to recover from.

Here's some of the press coverage of the situation:

Our View: Pummeling Illinois' park system - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com

Groups lobby to restore DNR funds
http://www.commercial-news.com/homepage/local_story_205105239.html?keyword=leadpicturestory

Nature groups urge governor to hold off on budget cuts
http://www.sj-r.com/news/x1768851878/Nature-groups-urge-governor-to-hold-off-on-budget-cuts

Park advocates want state money restored
http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/405908.html

DNR and Budget Cuts
http://wuis.streamguys.net/playlist.asp?player=asx&file=/news/DNR-2.mp3

Park advocates want state money restored
http://www.wandtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8716228

Blagojevich administration mum on effects of budget cuts
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/07/22/news/doc48863e4fb7014882883376.txt

States could close parks
http://www.hoinews.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=163166

Parks feel budget cuts
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1816443340/Parks-feel-budget-cuts

STATE BUDGET CUTS HURT STATE PARKS
http://www.week.com/news/local/25778349.html

Parks Losing Conservation Officers
http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=13711

Nature a loser in budget cuts, advocates say
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=222706&src=3

State's natural resource agency itself is endangered, conservationists say
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-dnr-cutsjul23,0,1286684.story

State's DNR cuts could be 'devastating'
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1069384,5_1_WA23_DNRCUTS_S1.article

Critics pan governor's IDNR budget cuts
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/budget_16422___article.html/cuts_state.html

Environmentalists ask for public support in fighting budget cuts for state parks
http://www.bnd.com/news/local/story/406741.html

Budget Cuts Put State Parks at Risk
http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=5282&type=top

Protesters: Save state parks
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/07/23/front_page/25176686.txt

Springfield's Stalemate A Hostile Environment

In the weeks since the adjournment, at least temporarily, of the General Assembly's spring session, I have been thinking a lot about how the dysfunction under the dome has dragged down the environmental agenda.

In recent years Illinois' environmental community has had an impressive run of big legislative victories on some the major policy questions of our time. In 2007, the electric rate relief package included some of the strongest clean energy provisions of any state - 25% of household electricity will come from wind in the future as a result, and ComEd and Ameren are busy getting ready to roll out major new energy conservation programs as a result. We've required a 90% reduction in mercury from our coal plants, and banned mercury in car parts, thermometers, and other products. We got nearly all of the phosphorus, which causes nasty algae blooms in our rivers and lakes, out of dishwashing detergent. Illinois ratified the Great Lakes Compact, to protect Lake Michigan from being drained by thirsts outside the region. We passed the nation's first Cool Cities Act, to give state support to mayors fighting climate change at the local level. We have new champions in all four caucuses of the General Assembly, and are more active than ever in electing new leaders across the state.

Given all this, we set our sights high for 2008, and launched ambitious campaigns to fight global warming, protect open space, and clean up toxics. As the dust settles on this Spring's legislative session, none of these initiatives crossed the finish line, despite heroic efforts by many. What happened?

Clearly, while the green engine inside the Capitol is building steam, the wheels have fallen off the rest of the train, and no amount of strength or smarts by advocates or individual legislators was enough to pull some very bright ideas through some very dark, deep tunnels.

State Representative Karen May (D-Highland Park) and a hardy band of champions are leading the drive to make Illinois the 15th Clean Car State by requiring cleaner versions of the cars we now drive that would reduce asthma attacks and save Illinois over $1 billion every year at the pump because they use a lot less gas. Who wouldn't want that? A statewide poll conducted May 22nd found that 90% of Illinoisans support the bill, and the support was strong everywhere - downstate, collar counties, and Chicago residents all want clean cars. However, the auto industry clings very tightly to their failed business strategy of refusing to make and sell the cars that more and more people want to buy. They waged a campaign of misinformation against the bill, and time ran out on the session before Rep. May could bring the bill up for a vote of the full House. A measure supported by 9 out of 10 Illinoisans will have to wait.

The passage of a state capital projects bill could potentially be a major source of funding environmental initiatives. The version of the Illinois Works proposal unveiled at the start of the session's last week contained no funding for open space protection, and was weighted towards roads rather than mass transit. By the end of the session's final week, thanks to hard work by House Republicans like Leader Tom Cross and Rep. Beth Coulson, and by House Democrats Julie Hamos, Elaine Nekritz, and Karen May, the plan was amended to include $200 million in open space funding - substantially less than needed over the life of the plan, but it was a start. After the package cleared the Senate, it died in the Illinois House as key funding mechanisms for the package were rejected.

State Senator Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) has worked for two years to come up with a plan to require recycling of computers and electronic waste in Illinois. After countless hours of negotiations with with computer and electronics manufacturers and advocates from the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Garrett came up with a product agreed to by most parties that passed both the Senate and the House, but failed to become law as the clock ran out before the Senate could give their approval to an amendment added in the House.

Several proposals to better protect our health from dangerous toxins got stuck in the mire. The chemical industry killed proposals to ban a few of the most dangerous toxins from some of the products we buy. A bill to require labeling of baby toys that contain brain-damaging lead failed, as did an effort to take mercury out of cosmetic products. While Illinoisans are embracing ways to detox their homes, Springfield resists them, even after Environment Illinois brought a toxics detection tool to the Capitol one day to show legislators just how widespread these unnecessary toxins are - right in their offices. Maybe that explains a few things?

So we have some very bright, hard-working champions in office, dedicated advocates both in the Capitol and in the districts raising these issues with their legislators, and an agenda with broad, growing public support. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough in this difficult year. So what's an advocate to do now?

This November's election is going to be about change, and we have a chance to harness that attention and energy from the electorate to break the Springfield logjam by electing more environmental champions to join the strong core who are already there putting the public's interest first. We need to help our friends who work so hard under such difficult circumstances, and bring in reinforcements next year to make the bipartisan team of environmental leaders strong enough to succeed in spite of whatever political battles lay ahead. Then we can get back to the business of making Illinois a model for America to follow.

Who's Hiding The Hybrids?

Great piece Wednesday night on WMAQ-TV on how hard it is for many car buyers to find hybrid cars.

Many buyers are told to go to a clean car state if they want to buy a hybrid. HB 3424, set for a vote next week in the Illinois House, would make Illinois a Clean Car State.

Do you know where your State Rep stands on HB3424?


Who's Hiding The Hybrids? - Videos - WMAQ

Durbin, Obama Say 'Nay' to Old Energy Policies

Good to see Sens. Durbin and Obama on the prevailing side in this big vote earlier today:

U.S. Senate today voted down an amendment by a margin of 42 to 56 (60 votes were needed for approval) that would have opened pristine lands and coastal waters, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to new oil drilling. It would have also promoted the use of
expensive, dirty, and dangerous "unconventional" fuels produced from liquid coal and oil shale.

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Pete Domenici, (R-N.M.), attempted to tack their disastrous Domestic Energy Production Act tack onto the flood relief bill. This follows a renewed call from President Bush and his allies in Congress for more of the same disastrous energy policies that have saddled us with our present energy and economic crises.

Here is a statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope on the vote:

"The answer to our oil addiction is not to search for a bigger fix. Drilling our coasts and national treasures like the Arctic Refuge and spending billions on dirty and expensive boondoggles like liquid coal and oil shale won't help hardworking Americans cope with gas prices. It will only add to the tens of billions of dollars the oil industry is already making.

"Even at peak production, which could take twenty years, the Arctic Refuge would provide roughly a year's worth of oil and would reduce gas prices at most by one or two cents a gallon.

"Under the leadership of President Bush and his allies in Congress, gas prices have more than doubled, Big Oil has made more than half a trillion dollars in profits over the past five years, and the United States has become even more dangerously addicted to fossil fuels.

"Hardworking Americans need real relief instead of the recycled rhetoric and disastrous energy policies that the president and his allies in Congress have pushed for the past seven years. Thankfully the leadership in the Senate has put forward a plan that will actually protect consumers, put America on the path toward a clean energy future, and finally put the
brakes on the taxpayer-funded giveaways that have been helping fuel Big Oil's record profits.

"Instead of searching for more ways to pad Big Oil's bottom line, the Consumer-First Energy Act offers Senators a chance to stop writing a blank check to Big Oil and instead protect consumers and invest in clean energy.

"These are the kind of answers we need—solutions that will bring energy costs under control, combat global warming, and leave America's last wild places intact."

Gas Hits $4 - Cleaner Cars, Anyone?

Today in Chicago I saw my first $4/gallon gas. $4.04, to be exact (it was for premium). Temporary price spike, or taste of the future?

You know the feeling - your gas gauge is reading low (that tank went fast!), and you're wondering "how much is it gonna be this time?" You pull into your local Big Oil outlet and wish there was Something Somebody Could Do.

Turns out, there is. The Illinois House is considering the Illinois Clean Car Act, which would bring a cleaner version of the same car you drive now to Illinois. They're already required in 13 other states, but here we get the versions that put out more pollution and use more gas. Whatever car you need - SUV or sedan, pickup or compact, it comes in a cleaner version that uses less gas - you just can't buy it here.

Unless, of course, the Illinois General Assembly passes House Bill 3424, the Illinois Clean Car Act. A new report released today by Environment Illinois finds that, collectively, Illinois drivers would save $1.24 billion each and every year at the gas pump. A nice reward for making a big dent in global warming pollution, and preventing 100,000 asthma attacks and other respiratory symptoms annually.

So Somebody CAN Do Something. That Somebody is your State Representative. Do your part in Illinois' driver for clean air here.