With state legislators in Springfield for a lame-duck veto session, two large corporations are making a power play for longterm, sweetheart deals that would bail out two risky projects that appear to be floundering due to their staggering cost and the massive increases in pollution they would create.
The out-of-state companies are seeking billions of dollars in subsidies from Illinois businesses and residential ratepayers. Each company is lobbying the lame-duck session for its own version of special interest legislation, althought the two proposals share a common principle - forcing Illinoisans to buy their product at far higher than market prices, at the same time increasing air pollution.
The Illinois House approved both bills Tuesday, and today they move to the Illinois Senate:
SB 2485 - Tenaska's $9 Billion Rate Hike Request
· This bill would force all Illinois electricity consumers to pay at least $286 million more for electricity annually.
· A wind farm the size of the Taylorville Energy Center would create up to 7500 job years in installation and manufacturing - at substantially lower cost. Source: Wind Manufacturing Supply Chain Report (2010— ELPC)
· While Tenaska claims they will be capturing a portion of their global warming pollution, this number is not reflecting their entire carbon footprint. (A significant portion of the CO2 will not be captured, but emitted by Tenaska’s customers.)
SB3388 - Ratepayer Subsidies For Leucadia's Dirty Gas:
· Getting natural gas from coal and hazardous refinery waste is far dirtier than the natural gas we use to heat our homes.
· Gas customers should not be locked in to buying gas for 30 years from a company that has not even applied for an IEPA permit.
· Leucadia claims they will capture 85% of their global warming pollution but this is only a portion of the total CO2 they will emit. A significant portion of the CO2 will not be captured, but emitted when Leucadia’s customers burn the gas.
Let's hope the Senate doesn't railroad these bailouts through - contact your State Senator today and urge them to vote no on bailouts for Tenaska and Leucadia.
As the results of Tuesday's election become final, it is clear that Illinois voters are not at all angry about at least one aspect of Illinois government - the major changes we've made in our energy policies in recent years to prioritize renewable energy like wind and solar power, and to get serious about energy conservation. Starting in 2007, Illinois enacted a series of major clean energy laws that have already created 10,000 new jobs in renewable energy, with thousands more on the way in the years ahead. Our gas and electric utilities are launching major new conservation programs to help homes and businesses cut costs and pollution by reducing energy use, and by 2025, 25% of our electricity must come from renewable sources.
Illinois voters rewarded the key leaders in making these changes with victories this week, and also elected some exciting fresh faces who prioritized clean energy in their campaigns, and who are poised to bring new energy to Springfield. There were stark differences between the candidates on energy policy, and there was great risk that the plug would be pulled on Illinois' transition to a clean energy economy. Here's a brief rundown on some of the key races with major implications for Illinois energy policy:
-Governor Pat Quinn's victory over State Senator Bill Brady is hugely important to maintaining momentum for clean energy in Illinois and in the country. Quinn has made growing Illinois' clean energy a top priority, from implementing our renewable energy standard to maximize Illinois job creation, supporting key legislative actions, budgeting capital construction dollars for energy-efficient construction, switching the state capitol complex from coal to wind power, and appointing clean energy advocate Manny Flores to the Chair the Illinois Commerce Commission. Brady, on the other hand, was one of 13 State Senators to oppose Illinois' landmark clean energy law in 2007, and also opposed energy efficient building codes for new construction and funding for high-speed rail improvements. Brady also doesn't "accept the premise" that pollution is causing climate change, and voted to bar the state from taking any action to regulate global warming pollution. Sierra Club, organized labor, and local government leaders warned before the election that Brady threatened to short-circuit our clean energy economy. Sierra Club made 42,384 mail, 13,653 email, and 7,208 volunteer phone contacts to its members to educate them about the energy issues in the race and urge them to vote.
-In the Illinois Senate, four candidates highlighted their support for clean energy policies in their television advertising and campaign messages. Three of them won, including Michael Noland (D-Elgin), lead Senate sponsor of a new state law to jumpstart the Illinois solar energy industry. Noland appears to have defeated former State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, who preceeded Noland in the Senate, in the era when subsidizing coal and nuclear power constituted Illinois' energy policy. Toi Hutchinson (D- Chicago Heights) also featured her support for renewable energy jobs in her campaign, and beat back a spirited challenge from tea party candidate Adam Baumgartner. Hutchinson is excited to get back to work on clean energy in Springfield. John Mulroe (D-Chicago) won a hotly contested race on Chicago's west side and near west suburbs, and sees new energy technologies as a key job creator for our state. Sierra Club sent full-time organizers to the Noland, Hutchinson, and Mulroe campaigns to educate Sierra Club members and swing voters about the choices for clean energy in these races. In these three battleground disricts, Sierra Club made 11,204 mail contacts, 2,940 live calls, and knocked on 1,914 doors to get these messages out. Unfortunately, Michael Bond (D-Grayslake), sponsor of Illinois' net metering law that allows homeowners and small businesses who install renewable energy systems to sell excess power back to the grid, was narrowly defeated by Lake Count Board chair Suzi Schmidt (R- Lake Villa). Schmidt did not run against clean energy policies, and in fact has, in the past, worked to protect open space in Lake County.
-In the Illinois House, suburban battleground seats were generally won by candidates who support clean energy and reduce global warming pollution. Incumbents who support clean energy like Fred Crespo (D-Streamwood), who passed legislation enabling local school district to team up to invest in wind power, Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), who passed legislation to help condo owners install solar panels, and Karen May (D-Highland Park), Chair of the House Renewable Energy Committee, all beat back spirited challenges, as did Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills), Keith Farnham (D-Elgin), Emily McAsey (D-Lockport), Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago), and Elaine Nekritz (D-Northfield). Several fresh faces will also bring a focus on environmental protection to the Illinois House, including Ann Williams (D-Chicago), Daniel Biss (D-Skokie), Michelle Mussman (D-Hoffman Estates), and Chris Nybo (R-Elmhurst.) In these races, Sierra Club contacted 9,104 swing voters and Sierra Club members.
-Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a key player in Illinois energy policy, cruised to re-election, and she will return as a strong advocate for the environment and clean energy.
Obviously, the success of these clean energy candidates for state office stands in stark contrast to the races for federal offices in Illinois, where clearly, larger forces contributed to the defeat of incumbents Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete), Bill Foster (D-Batavia), Phil Hare (D-Rock Island), and, apparently, Melissa Bean (D-Barrington). State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who made clean energy a priority in his campaign, narrowly lost to Mark Kirk (R-Wilmette), who previously supported clean energy and climate legislation, but has most recently pledged to oppose limits on global warming pollution.
With little expected from the next Congress in the way of clean energy, states like Illinois may be nationally significant in advancing clean energy technologies and businesses. We've come a long way in recent years toward those goals, and Tuesday's election results are an indication that voters want that progress to continue.
Since 2007, Mark Kirk has made a big deal out of his opposition to BP's plans to increase the pollution from its Whiting, IN refinery as part of a plan to switch to a dirtier source of oil - Canadian tar sands.
Most recently, he touted his "stopping" and "beating" BP twice in Wednesday's debate with Alexi Giannoulias.
There's no question Congressman Kirk joined many other leaders, including Senator Durbin, Mayor Daley, Pat Quinn, then-Congressman Rahm Emmanuel, and many others who joined Sierra Club and the environmental community in protesting BPs proposal to increase pollution. To be fair, Kirk certainly didn't go soft on the rhetoric. Here he is from the House floor in 2007:
"We cannot allow new dumping by BP. Later today we will meet with the head of BP North America, and given the legislative tsunami we are preparing, we should simply be discussing BP's terms of surrender on their lake-dumping plan. BP, millions spent in the 'Beyond Petroleum' campaign, but we know it stands for 'Bad Polluter.' Hopefully, BP will back down and be a better partner in protecting Lake Michigan."
To hear Kirk tell it, you'd think he won that battle, and Lake Michigan is safe from the pollution we all protested. You'd be wrong.
Trouble is, nobody stopped BP. Indiana went right ahead and issued BP the permit for the increased pollution. All the protests, including those from Kirk, did net a verbal commitment from BP that they would "review" whether it "could" avoid more pollution; but Indiana's decision to allow the pollution was not reversed. BP was not "beat" or "stopped." They refused to relinquish the permit, and Indiana maintains that the permit, which Kirk called "their lake-dumping plan" is valid. When BP's conversion to dirty "tar sands" oil is complete in 2012, they will be within their right to dump all the pollution we all fought back in 2007.
Kirk apparently reads history a little differently. His campaign website says: "Fact: Mark Kirk stood up to Big Oil when he stopped BP from polluting Lake Michigan."
In a press release from is Congressional office October 17, 2009,:
'Two years ago, we scored a major victory after BP agreed to back down from its plan to dump more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan,' Congressman Mark Kirk said.
On February 2nd, his campaign put out a press release including:
"In Congress, Kirk stopped BP’s plan to pollute Lake Michigan"
In May, Mark Kirk approved this campaign commercial, entitled "Distract", that claims "Stopping British Petroleum's pollution of Lake Michigan..." as an accomplishment. Watch:
Then, June 2nd on Springfield talk radio, Kirk asserted:
"We were successful in stopping that plan because it would have been the first new dumper in the great lakes in 10 years and that’s the source of 95% of North America’s fresh water and where 30 million people pull their drinking water from."
"Let's be clear on what we fought and what we won on. We beat a new IDEM permit."
Q: Didn't they actually issue the permit?
"They absolutely did."
Q: Has it been cancelled?
"I don't think it has."
Q: How can you say you beat it?
"We beat it because BP then decided to build a water treatment plant, adding over $20 million in cost to their Whiting facility."
No one that I've talked to involved in the case has any idea what Kirk is referring to with that $20 million figure. In fact, there is no evidence that BP has changed their "lake dumping plan" at all.
If Kirk's recollection of the past seems off, it's even less clear where he stands on BP's Lake Michigan pollution proposal now. In fact, he seems to actually support BP's move to dirtier gas at Whiting:
"No one argues against the need to expand production capability at the Whiting facility, but there should be zero tolerance for releasing deadly poisons into our air and water.'" Crain's Chicago Business, 6/4/09
Tar sands oil is dirty from start to finish - it takes more energy to extract, uses more water and creates more pollution to refine into gasoline, and is dirtier when we burn it in our cars. That makes Kirk's support for tar sands and apparent opposition to BP's pollution irreconcilable.
It also makes this particular verbal assault on BP quite ironic:
"I think BP now stands for bad polluter...They need to be called out on their corporate hypocrisy." Daily Herald, 7/20/07
I agree with Kirk that those who talk a good game on the environment, even if the facts don't back it up, "need to be called out." It's time for Mark Kirk to stop exaggerating, and be honest with the public about the risks still facing our Great Lake, and about the incomplete nature of the "victory" he is so very proud of.
We applaud the Obama Administration for appointing John Goss as federal Asian Carp Director. To save our Great Lakes from Asian Carp and other alien invaders, we need to quickly design a permanent solution that protects our lakes, while continuing the recovery of the Chicago River system. The Great Lakes are a national treasure, and we're pleased that President Obama and his team have made their protection and restoration a top priority.
John Goss' experience in wildlife and environmental protection here in our region will enable him to get off to a fast start, and there is no time to lose. We know that Asian Carp are near Lake Michigan, and we need immediate action to keep them out, while simultaneously working to identify permanent solutions that stop the movement of invasive species between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.
A permanent solution that protects the Great Lakes and improves our economy in the Chicago region will take work and input from a wide range of government agencies and community voices. With John Goss on board as a full-time Asian Carp Director for the federal government, we can all move forward quickly to studying, planning, and implementing those solutions. There's no time to waste.
Council on Environmental Quality Appoints John Goss as Asian Carp Director
WASHINGTON – Continuing the Obama Administration’s proactive response to the threat that Asian carp poses to the Great Lakes, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today announced the appointment of John Goss as the Asian Carp Director. In his role, John will serve as the principal advisor to CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley on Asian carp issues, and oversee the coordination of Federal, state, and local efforts to keep Asian carp from establishing in the Great Lakes ecosystems.
Goss joins CEQ from the Indiana Wildlife Federation, the Indiana State affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, where he served for four years as the Executive Director. In his role at the Wildlife Federation, he worked with conservation, business and industry groups to support the Great Lakes Compact. Goss previously served as Director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and as Vice Chair of the Great Lakes Commission.
“With a strong background focused on natural resources, John will be an excellent addition to our team as we continue to combat the spread of Asian carp,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. “He will help to ensure coordination among government agencies and the most effective response across all levels of government to this threat.”
Goss will chair the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC), which is a team of Federal, state and local agencies working together to prevent Asian carp from establishing populations in the Great Lakes. The Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, released in February, 2010 and updated in May, 2010, unifies Federal, state and local action in an unparalleled effort to combat invasive species.
Prior to his position at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Goss was Director of Tourism for the State of Indiana and chaired the Great Lakes International Marketing Initiative for the Great Lakes Governors Association. Goss served as Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Frank O’Bannon, District Director for Congressman Frank McCloskey and Deputy Mayor for the City of Bloomington, Indiana. Goss received his Masters of Public Affairs and his B.A. in Economics from Indiana University.
What a great day today for Eden Place - an amazing story on Chicago's south side about turning a very dangerous eyesore into a haven for nature in the heart of a community where many kids wouldn't otherwise have the chance to experience the great outdoors.
A high-level Obama Administration team has been in Chicago this week listening and learning from our region's conservation experiences as they develop the President's America's Great Outdoors initiative. Hundreds of people, many of them young people, have attended listening sessions and breakout groups as we convey what we've learned and accomplished trying to protect and restore the great outdoors in the heart of our metropolis. (There are easy ways to participate at the initiative's website.)
The team also actually got outside to see a few sites, and today there was a great event and tour at Eden Place. A decade ago, Eden Place was an illegal waste dump, filled with 200 tons of drums, concrete, tires, lead - a two-tory dangerous mess in a residential neighborhood.
Michael Howard wanted to do something about lead contamination in the neighborhood, so he organized the community to clean up the dump. But he didn't stop there - Eden Place is now a real oasis, where kids can experience woods, prairie, wetland, grow and eat food, see how chickens are raised, and much more, all within a stone's throw of the Dan Ryan expressway. Sierra Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors program partnered with Eden Place to mentor young environmentalists with leadership skills.
Today, leaders from the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Depts of Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the EPA were all on hand to tour Eden Place. They got to see that America's Great Outdoors includes small but wonderful sites where people are connecting with the land in ways and places that are suprising and wonderful. What a great story, and a great day for Michael Howard and his team. We, and our kids, need a lot more Michael Howards, and a lot more Eden Places, all over Chicago and America.
P.S. - Saturdays are a great day to check out Eden Place - they have a farmer's market running Saturdays through September 25th, 8am to 3pm.
Great news today as Gov. Quinn enacts two new laws aimed at jumpstarting Illinois' solar energy industry. Sierra Club made these two bills, which are projected to create 5,000 new jobs, a top priority this year.
Illinois? Solar? You might be surprised, but Illinois gets as much available sunlight as Miami. Solar is getting much cheaper, and there are signs that it can be a growing industry in Illinois. Chicago has a new solar power plant on the south side, and a Chinese company, Wangxiang, is making solar panels in Rockford. Dozens of contractors are now seeking homeowners looking to go solar on their roofs.
This very young industry got a very big boost with Quinn's action today. The two bills signed into law make two simple, but critical changes:
-Illinois utilities must start buying some of the electricity we use in our homes from solar energy; and -Condo & townhome associations can no longer bar solar installation on rooftops without legitimate safety concerns
Here's how these two changes promise to spur this industry of the future. First, anyone interested in developing a solar power plant in Illinois now knows that ComEd and Ameren must buy some of their power from plants like that. In this recession, those are the kind of market opportunities that leverage capital investment in our communities and our workers.
Second, homeowners who wanted to hire local contractors to install solar, but who couldn't due to outdated rooftop nuisance rules, can now hire those skilled workers to help them save money and cut pollution.
This is a very timely win - for Illinois, which needs all the job creation we can get. For America, wondering "what next" after the Senate's inaction on a clean energy climate bill, we are so proud to offer the country example of basic, yet bold changes we can make to choose a clean energy future.
