Grain Belt Express Can Deliver Clean Energy and Jobs to Illinois

Illinois has a chance right now to create good jobs adding clean energy to our power supply, and we should say yes.   Springfield may be mired in gridlock, but the Illinois Commerce Commission can give the green light to a project that will put women and men to work and turn on the renewable energy…

Why Clean Energy Transmission?

A lack of transmission infrastructure remains as one of the biggest impediments to a meaningful expansion of the wind industry. Design of the electric grid exacerbates the problem, as the grid was originally built to connect large individual generation units, and deliver the energy they generated to large population centers around the country. Midwestern states…

Citizens Speak Out in Favor of More Stream Protection at Coal Mines

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has proposed a new rule for regulation of coal mining intended to better protect streams, fish, and wildlife from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and impacts to streams from underground mining.  The proposed rule would update the nearly 30-year-old rule coal mines now…

Statement on Clean Power Plan & Illinois

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama Administration released the final version of the landmark Clean Power Plan. In response, Jack Darin, Director of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club released the following statement: “The Clean Power Plan is the most significant single action any President has ever taken to…

Victory at North Canton Mine

Streams Feeding Canton Lake Saved With the signing of a Circuit Court Consent Order on January 16, 2015 to terminate the North Canton Mine mining permit, two big victories were realized. First, the order to stop the strip coal mine in the watershed of Canton Lake protects the public drinking water supply for half the population…

Citizens Win Eight-Year Battle to Stop Coal Strip Mine

Local Water Resources Saved Upstream of Public Water Supply Lake IDNR Stream Protection Errors Exposed CANTON, Ill. – The court case contesting the North Canton coal strip mine permit was officially ended January 16th, winning an eight-year battle by citizens of Fulton County to protect Canton Lake and its watershed that supplies drinking water to over…

Batavia City Government Demands Accountability from Nation’s Largest Coal Company

On November 3, Batavia City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling on the Illinois Attorney General to investigate Peabody Energy’s sales process of the Prairie State coal plant. City Council made this request in response to citizens’ concerns about the environmental and financial risks associated with Batavia’s long-term power purchasing agreement with the coal plant.…

Closed Door JCAR OKs Illinois Fracking Rule

On Thursday, November 6th the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) approved rules to implement the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act.   Although JCAR’s action was final, the public could not see the final version of the rules considered, and in fact we stillcannot see them until they are filed with the Secretary of State sometime before…

Quinn/Rauner Debate Climate Change

During the October 8th Downstate Gubernatorial Debate in Peoria, candidates for Governor were asked about their position on climate change and whether they supported President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The question came from Jamey Dunn at Illinois Issues magazine: Q: States would play a large role in implementing the proposed federal role to cut carbon…

Statement on Draft Fracking Rules Before JCAR

Recently, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) issued revised rules to regulate high-volume horizontal fracturing for oil and gas, or “fracking.” The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) is now considering IDNR’s proposal, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the health of Illinois residents facing threats to their drinking water, air, and communities.…