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Environment
Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
4:24pm
Mon Feb 14, 2011

Solis Challengers Take Up Clean Power Bill In 25th Ward Race

An unofficial hearing about the stalled Clean Power Ordinance drew a big crowd out to City Hall this morning, and mingling among the environmental campaigners were more than a few would-be elected officials on the ballot in Chicago's municipal elections next week. Two candidates challenging Danny Solis for the 25th Ward aldermanic seat came out to show their support for the bill -- and to hit Solis for failing to lend his support for the Clean Power Ordinance. The Fisk Generating Station, one of the two plants targeted for clean-up in the proposed bill, sits south of Pilsen in Solis' ward.

Cuauhtemoc Morfin, of the challengers in the 25th, said the Clean Power bill is "one of my priority issues and it should be a priority issue for the current alderman" while candidate Ambrosio "Ambi" Medrano, Jr., asked, "How come these aldermen are making this a big issue and our alderman is not?" (The SEIU State Council, who sponsors this website, has endorsed Medrano Jr.'s campaign.)

Solis, who as of last fall had accepted nearly $50,000 in political contributions from the owners of the Fisk and Crawford plants, has been on board with previous legislative efforts to rein in some of the pollution coming out of Fisk and Crawford. A spokeperson for him is on record calling for more federal regulation -- rather than city rules -- to deal with the plants. Community and environmental advocates say the issue demands a response now. However, 25th Ward voters have the most immediate say. On the Clean Power Ordinance, there is a clear-cut choice between Solis and his challengers.

PI Original
by Micah Maidenberg
3:35pm
Mon Feb 14, 2011

An "Ad Hoc" Hearing For The Clean Power Ordinance

Clean Energy

Aldermanic and community supporters of a bill that would force Chicago's two coal-fired powered plants to clean up gathered in City Council chambers today for an unofficial hearing. Aldermen aligned with Mayor Richard Daley have not allowed the bill to come up for an on-the-record hearing.

Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
12:37pm
Mon Feb 7, 2011

Illinois Continues Advancement In Wind Energy

Illinois scored a major -- though largely unnoticed -- coup when a St. Louis University professor chose Pike County, in southwestern part of the state, to develop a new wind energy facility. The $250 million project, which is expected to break ground this spring, could generate millions in annual property taxes, lease payments to landowners, and other spending during and after construction -- not to mention up to 600 jobs. The project is helping to change Illinois' image in the energy-generation world. In a recent report about the project Reuters wrote, "Once known only for coal and nuclear, a robust renewable energy policy is making Illinois a magnet for commercial wind farm developers of all stripes."

Indeed, in 2007, the General Assembly passed a new and aggressive renewable energy standard, which stipulates that 25 percent of the electricity sold in Illinois by 2025 must be generated by renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. (A bill passed in 2009 establishes a similar system for natural gas utilities.) Lawmakers have also developed clear incentives for the development of energy-efficient affordable housing and public sector building construction and implemented its own strict pollution limits on mercury toxins that spew from the state's coal plants.

The wind mandate has been particularly effective. As part of the 2007 bill, 18 percent of the renewable energy required by 2025 is set to come from wind. The aggressive benchmark has helped Illinois corner the wind market. From Reuters: "The state is already outperforming others in supply. While Illinois ranks 14 among states for potential wind capacity, it is sixth nationwide in installed wind power for 2010, with nearly 2,000 megawatts, according to the American Wind Energy."

Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
3:42pm
Wed Feb 2, 2011
1 comment

The Latest Absurdity From Kirk

Sen. Mark Kirk continues to ratchet up the ridiculousness. The junior senator is now blaming gossip about Al Gore's personal life for his own flip flop on global warming. Try and wrap your head around that one.

First, some background. In 2009, Kirk voted in favor of cap-and-trade climate change legislation while a member of the House of Representatives. The then-congressman received what he described as "a stronger reaction than I've ever seen before" from opponents of the bill and soon after was insisting that he voted for cap-and-trade only to satisfy the "narrow interests" of his district. He went on to say that he wouldn't support that bill should he be elected to the Senate. Kirk's opponent in the 2010 campaign, Alexi Giannoulias, enlisted Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), an architect of the cap-and-trade bill in the Senate, to criticize Kirk for the flip flop.

Now, Kirk is pointing to the former vice president as the reason for his change of heart on global warming. Talking Points Memo flagged a comment Kirk made to Greenwire, in which he said, "The consensus behind the climate change bill collapsed and then further deteriorated with the personal and political collapse of Vice President [Al] Gore." The Kirkian logic is that because Gore recently got divorced and an investigtion into an alleged 2006 incident in which Gore was accused of sexual assault was reopened, Kirk turned against cap-and-trade. Again, we invite you to wrap your head around that one.