Environmental Law and Policy Center » In My State

Free Concert and Rally to Bring Passenger Rail to Des Moines

pgray — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:34:06 +0000

On Tuesday, August 31 ELPC and the Greater Des Moines Partnership will host Rock the Rails, a free concert and rally to build support for bringing passenger rail to Des Moines. The event starts at 5 PM at Hessen House, 101 4th Street in downtown Des Moines.

Click here to see the event poster and details.

Click here to register.

Chicago Gets Geared Up For Electric Vehicles

pgray — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:26:57 +0000

With plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles ready to hit the marketplace, an article in the Chicago Tribune looks at whether Chicago is ready to support electric vehicle charging. The Chicago area is the third largest auto market in the nation, and with low-carbon sources of electricity available, it’s ideal location to use an plug-in vehicles to reduce global warming pollution.

Supporting plug-in vehicles means providing public charging stations, streamlining the process to install home charging stations and providing incentives to reduce the amount of pollution created by charging plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner told the Tribune, “We need to get the right policies in place, moving forward, soon. And when I say soon, I mean get them in place over the next six months to a year.” ELPC is working with the public and private sectors in Chicago to maximize the environmental benefits of plug-in vehicles.

Read the article here Learn more about plug-in vehicles at elpc.org/plug-ins

Iowa should help drive future of clean energy

jgeiger — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:51:47 +0000

Iowa Should Drive Future of Clean Energy

In an OpEd published in the Des Moines Register, ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner says, “Iowa can and should be a leader in gaining the jobs of the future by helping build new, cleaner cars that increase our energy independence, reduce pollution and save us money at the pump.” Read the full OpEd.

New Illinois Legislation Boosts Solar Power

pgray — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:02:50 +0000

ELPC Policy Advocate Madeleine Weil, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, ELPC Policy Advocate Sarah Wochos and ELPC Co-Legislative Director Al Grosboll

On August 17, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law two bills that will create more than 5,000 new jobs and bring more than 3 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity to Illinois consumers by 2014. ELPC was instrumental in crafting and advocating for these bills, which will increase the number of solar installations around the state.

The Solar Ramp Up bill (HB 6202) sets annual targets for the amount of solar power used in Illinois between 2012 and 2015, these targets give industry a green light to invest in solar power and create new jobs, revenue and clean energy here in Illinois. The Homeowners’ Solar Rights Act (HB 5429) clarifies the rights of homeowners living in homeowner or condominium associations to put solar panels on the property and outlines a process for that to occur.

Read coverage from the Associated Press

New Storage Batteries Can Expand Wind Power’s Potential

pgray — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:47:14 +0000

On a Minnesota wind farm, developers have successfully completed tests of a one megawatt storage battery that can harness excess energy produced by strong winds and send it back into the grid when wind speeds slow down. The 80 ton battery could supply power to 500 homes for 7 hours. Currently, when wind turbines produce more power than the grid needs, they have to be shut down. This type of storage technology “represents a huge leap forward,” said ELPC Policy Advocate Matt McLarty, capturing more of the wind’s energy and offering a more consistent supply of electricity from clean, renewable sources.

BP’s Gulf Spill Heightens Concerns Over Whiting Refinery

pgray — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:33:28 +0000

ELPC worked with a coalition of environmental and citizen groups to successfully challenge the air permit for an expansion of BP’s Whiting, Indiana oil refinery that would enable the facility to process more oil from Canadian tar sands, and create huge amounts of new global warming pollution in the process. An article in Greenwire and The New York Times looks at how BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico might affect the planned refinery expansion.

“Putting economics above public safety and the environment appears to be a pervasive practice” at BP, said ELPC senior attorney Faith Bugel. “If there’s a loophole, the practice appears to be to find their way through it. Our concern is that what happened in the Gulf doesn’t happen here.”

Read the full article in the New York Times

New York Times: Pressure Building on Chicago’s Coal Plants

pgray — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:15:00 +0000

The campaign to clean up Chicago’s aging coal plants was featured in the New York Times on August 6. The article details the progress of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, legislation that would force the coal plants to drastically reduce carbon dioxide and particulate matter pollution. The ordinance was introduced by Alderman Joe Moore in April and has gained 14 cosponsors including Alderman Ricardo Muñoz of the 22nd ward, where the Crawford coal plant is located.

ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner told the New York Times, “The reality is the coal comes from Wyoming, other states get the power, Midwest Generation gets the profit, and Chicago gets the pollution and health costs.”

ELPC has been actively supporting the ordinance and helped pass 2006 regulations that greatly reduced mercury pollution from Illinois coal plants.

Construction of Chicago – St. Louis High-Speed Rail to Begin in September

pgray — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:36:55 +0000

A recent agreement between Union Pacific Railroad and the Illinois Department of Transportation clears the way for construction to begin on the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail corridor. The project is expected to create 900 new jobs.

“Our state is now moving to begin construction of a modern rail system that will create economic development, better travel options and less pollution,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. ” The agreement is a big first step in the transformation of our transportation system.”

Construction on this project is expected to start this fall, and we look forward to high-speed trains operating in Illinois beginning in 2012. High-speed rail is a win-win-win: good for jobs, good for economic development and good for the environment.

Today’s announcement moves forward the work over many years by rail advocates and public officials.

Read coverage in the Chicago Sun Times

Passenger Rail in Ohio Could Put Business on the Right Track

pgray — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:35:24 +0000

Ohio is working to create passenger rail service between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati – an investment that would create opportunities for economic development throughout Ohio, and especially in towns along the route. With the help of $400 million in federal funding, the “3C” service could begin running by 2011. Officials in Riverside, Ohio, home of the Wright-Patterson Air Force base, think the new rail line would be great economic news for their community. In an interview with Public News Service, the Director of Economic Development for Riverside explains the opportunities the new rail line is creating.

Listen to the story here

Illinois Coal Plant Expected to Raise Electricity Rates, Fuel Global Warming

pgray — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:23:17 +0000

The Chicago Tribune reports that the cost of a new coal plant under construction in southern Illinois has more than doubled to $4.4 billion, an increase which will affect residents in the Illinois towns that signed long-term contracts to purchase power from the plant. The Prairie State coal plant, built by Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal company, will burn coal from Peabody’s nearby mine, generating 1600 megawatts of electricity and generating 13 million tons of global warming pollution each year, the equivalent of putting 2 million more cars on the road.

Some argue that coal is the cheapest source of electricity available, but proposed federal regulations on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could add additional costs to the power from this plant.

ELPC opposed the construction of the plant. As Executive Director Howard Learner told the Tribune, “These cities and towns are captive buyers at the mercy of Peabody and its ever-increasing costs. People are going to pay higher rates for more pollution. That isn’t a winning formula.”

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.