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 of 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 -- as a result, 25 percent of household electricity will come from wind in the future and ComEd and Ameren are busy getting ready to roll out major new energy conservation programs. We've required a 90 percent 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 toxins. As the dust settles on this spring's legislative session, none of these initiatives crossed the finish line, despite heroic efforts by many.
So what happened?
While the Capitol’s green engine is building steam, the wheels have fallen off the rest of the train. Unfortunately, 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.
