Based on ELPC’s Charity Navigator score on financial strength and management, ELPC is being recognized in the media as among “The 10 Highest-Rated Charities in America: 2011.” ELPC is the only environmental group and the only advocacy group on this list. Moreover, ELPC is the only listed group, which is located between the coasts. Read more on MSN Money and Main Street.
Illinoisans: Ask Your State Senator to Stop Landfill Expansion in Cook County
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Progressive Farmer takes a look at new lawsuits filed against the U.S. EPA for failing to enact pollution-control standards on agriculture. Read the article.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Dozens of coal-fired power plants across the United States are facing closure over the next few years. Many communities are actively engaged in planning what is next for these sites. Each closing poses challenges and opportunities. Kari Lydersen examines the issues and takes a look at what is happening in Chicago in Midwest Energy News. Read the story.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Mark Schleifstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune covered the filing of two law suits against the EPA by the Mississippi River Coalition. The Coalition, of which ELPC is a member, wants the EPA to set numeric standards for nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and wants to the agency to revisit wastewater treatment standards. Nitrogen and phosphorus are pollutants that contribute to the dead zone that emerges in the Gulf of Mexico each spring. Read the story.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
ELPC’s persistent advocacy with our Indiana colleagues resulted in a huge step toward keeping unnecessary pollution out of the clean lakes and rivers that wind through the Hoosier state. On March 15th, the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board (WPCB) voted 6-2 to adopt new “anti-degradation standards” under the Clean Water Act. This victory follows more than five years of work by ELPC and our allies across Indiana. Together, we drafted the standards and ushered them through the state’s decision-making process at the WPCB, where they were critiqued and revised through negotiations and testimony. The people of Indiana backed us up by writing to the Board members and telling them how important clean water is to them. ELPC will remain engaged in Indiana to ensure these new standards are implemented well. Read ELPC’s press statement about this victory.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Des Moines Register ran a great profile of new ELPC Des Moines-based Staff Attorney Josh Mandelbaum. Read the profile.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
President’s Goal Announced at White House Briefing with Great Lakes Leaders
Washington, D.C. – President Obama’s proposal to expand the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) beyond its current FY14 time frame was announced today while an invited group of the region’s leaders were in town for a briefing with senior White House officials.
Congress and the president have provided more than $1 billion for the GLRI since it first made history in 2009 as the largest commitment to Great Lakes restoration in a U.S. presidential budget. The sweeping initiative funds are designated to curb the influx of invasive species, clean beaches, remove toxic pollution and restore fish and wildlife habitat.
The announcement was made as some 80 of the Great Lakes region’s environmental, recreation, business and academic leaders met with senior White House officials today to discuss clean water, environmental and economic priorities in the region. Participants were invited to the briefing at the Executive Office Building, co-hosted by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Office of Public Engagement, during Great Lakes Day events in Washington this week.
“Millions of people rely on the Great Lakes for fresh drinking water, recreation and economic vitality,” said Howard A. Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “By expanding our investment in the Great Lakes, the Obama administration is protecting one of the nation’s — and the world’s — most valuable natural and economic assets.”
“A commitment to extending GLRI funding is critical to protecting our lakes, our national parks and our local economies,” said Lynn McClure, Midwest regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “In Michigan, one GLRI project alone has created 125 jobs and produced more than $66 million in economic benefits to the state.”
“This is an investment that will benefit the environment and the economy,” said Andy Buchsbaum, regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office. “Great Lakes programs are producing results — but there’s more to do. Today’s announcement signals that the Obama Administration is in this fight for the long haul.”
Economic recovery and environmental restoration were significant themes in the day’s discussion, which connected the goals of reducing nutrient pollution, cleaning up beaches and removing invasive species, to more tourism dollars for local communities and small businesses. Among the highlights:
Asian Carp/Chicago Waterway: The groups praise the administration’s effort to build up agency budgets to support short-term Asian carp deterrents, and say they are pleased to learn that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy believes it is possible to shorten the timeline for the corps’ Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). The congressional-ordered study – requiring the corps to determine options available to stop the transfer of invasive species between the two watersheds — is currently scheduled for completion in 2015. Looking forward, the groups seek a better understanding of how the administration will compress the study timeline and focus the effort on analyzing how to permanently separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.
Ballast Water Discharge: The groups credit U.S. EPA for requiring treatment technology on board vessels for the first time, as well as for working to retain ballast water exchange for the Great Lakes. But they note that EPA’s new draft permit has weaknesses — particularly in terms of technology availability determinations and the timeline for implementation — that could compromise this modest progress.
Cleaner beaches: The groups say they are pleased to see a decrease in beach closings in Chicago and elsewhere. They urge the administration to continue supporting such progress in future years as beaches are a primary way people experience the Great Lakes, and serve as an economic engine for dozens of coastal communities.
Nutrient pollution: The groups praise the yeoman’s effort by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service and EPA to pool their resources and coordinate on the ground in the western Lake Erie basin to address the already-critical algae-bloom threat. The groups say they anticipate the agencies using every tool in the box to drive down phosphorus loads to western Lake Erie and other critical areas around the lakes.
Toxic cleanups: The groups applaud EPA’s tight focus and spending priority on cleaning up and delisting Areas of Concern, going way back to the early 2000s and passage of the Legacy Act. Such contamination holds Great Lakes communities back from revitalization and cleanups should continue as a priority for the administration, the groups say.
Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said that overall, “I was pleased and inspired to see and hear the highest levels of the Obama administration focused on restoring the Great Lakes in Washington this week. A healthy Great Lakes is a resource that everyone in the region can build on as we revitalize both our environment and economy. I look forward to continuing this collaborative work to restore the lakes and prevent threats from undermining our strong record of success.”
The briefing included opening remarks from U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson about business development and jobs in the Great Lakes region, and a panel discussion with USDA Deputy Under Secretary Ann Mills, DOI Deputy Secretary David Hayes, and Cameron Davis, EPA senior advisor to the Administrator for Great Lakes.
“The administration made unprecedented investments in restoring the Great Lakes and made it a priority to work with state, city, environmental, academic and business leaders toward lasting solutions,” said Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House CEQ. “Today’s gathering at the White House is another important step in advancing the partnership between federal agencies and community leaders that has fostered success for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and its goal of a healthy environment and a thriving economy for all Americans.”
The Great Lakes account for more than 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water, with more than 30 million people living in the Great Lakes Basin.
Contacts:
Alliance for the Great Lakes: Joel Brammeier, President and CEO, 773-590-6494 (cell), jbrammeier@greatlakes.org
Environmental Law & Policy Center: Howard Learner, Executive Director, 312-953-6841 (cell) HLearner@elpc.org; or Jill Geiger, Director of Communications and Marketing, 312-795-3703 (office)
National Parks Conservation Association: Lynn McClure, Midwest Regional Director, 312-343-7216 (cell), lmcclure@npca.org
National Wildlife Federation-Great Lakes office: Andy Buchsbaum, Regional Executive Director, 734-717-3665 (cell), buchsbaum@nwf.org
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Victory! Chicago Coal Plants to Shut Down
After more than a decade of advocacy by ELPC and our many allies in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, two of the oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the nation will close. The Fisk plant in Pilsen will shut down later this year and the Crawford plant in Little Village will shut down in 2014.
For more than 10 years, ELPC has provided the legal counsel to the effort to shut down these damaging plants. This effort has included active participation in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, a ground-breaking grassroots campaign to make Chicago coal-free.
For more information, please see the Chicago Clean Power Coalition Press Release, some victory celebration photos on our Flickr page, and media coverage from:
Also, you can listen to a podcast of our March 2nd webinar here.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
ELPC Deputy Director Kevin Brubaker, who leads ELPC's high-speed rail efforts, was aboard the Midwest's first high-speed rail train to leave Union Station.
On Feb. 15, 2012, high-speed rail travel arrived in the Midwest. The first high-speed train outside the Northeast United States departed Chicago’s Union Station at 7 a.m., traveling through Indiana and southwest Michigan to its destination in Kalamazoo, Mich. The 138-mile journey, which included a stop in New Buffalo, Mich., was completed in 2 hours, 8 minutes.
Kalamazoo is the highway point on the Chicago-Detroit passenger rail corridor. Eventually, officials say that 5.5-hour trip will be trimmed to 3.75 hours.Other high-speed rail corridors in the Midwest will include routes from Chicago to St. Louis and the Twin Cities.
Read more from CBS 2 Chicago and MLive.com.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the US Senate Committee on Agriculture heard testimony from a number of expert witnesses in support of clean energy programs in the Farm Bill. Witnesses and Senators alike praised the programs’ positive job creation, environmental protection and rural economic development benefits.
“We commend the experts and Senators who took a stand for homegrown clean energy today,” says Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), a long-time champion of the Farm Bill’s clean energy programs. “Through these programs, America has made unprecedented gains in rural renewable energy and energy efficiency. Congress and the White House should continue this forward momentum.”
Steve Flick, one of the nation’s farm energy entrepreneurs, called for Congressional action to renew and fully fund core Farm Bill clean energy programs, such as the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and the Biorefinery Assistance Program. “America’s farmers, ranchers and rural residents can have a bright future ahead of them with the right incentives,” Flick says. “Renewable energy is the future of rural America.”
Bennie Hutchins of Mississippi provided numerous examples of how REAP has helped agricultural producers and rural small businesses save money and produce income across the South. He shared ELPC analysis showing that REAP produces jobs at a greater than average rate.
“Farm Bill clean energy programs have been an unprecedented success. They have helped farmers reduce their energy bills and energy waste through energy efficiency and accelerated the introduction of modern clean energy technologies into the marketplace,” Olsen says. “Congress and the White House should continue this momentum by renewing and fully funding core Farm Bill clean energy programs.”
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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Cooper: Example of 4 Southern States Proves That “Robbing” Ratepayers Before Power is Produced Leads to More Expensive Reactors, Higher Than Necessary Rates for Consumers
DES MOINES, IA – A leading U.S. expert on nuclear reactor financing is warning that a bill pending in the Iowa Senate to allow MidAmerican to charge in advance for the construction of new nuclear reactors could lead to significantly more expensive utility bills for state consumers, up to $70 higher a month ($840 per year).
Analyst Mark Cooper shows how the examples of four Southeastern U.S. states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia – have led to major harms to consumers when “early cost recovery” or “construction work in progress” (CWIP) is used to finance nuclear reactors. If the Iowa Senate measure becomes law, Iowa would become only the fifth state in the U.S. to impose such confiscatory, anti-consumer special interest legislation at the request of the nuclear power industry.
Cooper’s analysis concurs with the Staff of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB), which examined the controversial nuclear financing scheme before the state legislature (HF561), and concluded that it poses a serious threat to Iowa ratepayers. The Cooper report notes: “In addition to the dismal economics of nuclear power, the primary reason that the practice is limited to a very few states is that advanced cost recovery is fundamentally flawed, placing ratepayers at extraordinary risk for an excessive and unnecessary cost burden that runs into the billions of dollars. The staff of the IUB has raised a number of concerns about the advanced cost recovery legislation now stalled in the Senate that reflect the long-standing and well-documented concerns of ratepayer and consumer advocates.”
Mark Cooper is senior fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School, and author of “Policy Challenges of Nuclear Reactor Construction, Cost Escalation and Crowding Out Alternatives” (2009).
Commenting on his report, Cooper said: “Past experience and current developments in the few Southeastern U.S. states that have allowed advanced cost recovery for nuclear reactors indicate that removing consumer protections will impose significant costs on Iowa ratepayers and expose them to extraordinarily dangerous risks. The push for early cost recovery for construction of nuclear reactors in Iowa and elsewhere is driven by one basic truth about new nuclear reactors: They are totally uneconomic. The markets won’t touch these projects so the industry’s only alternative is to enlist state lawmakers to leave consumers holding the bag.”
Steven Falck, senior policy advocate, Environmental Law & Policy Center (Des Moines, IA), said: “If this bill passes, Iowans would see massive rate hikes while being stripped of key protections that have served us well. As the IUB staff pointed out, ‘HF 561 would shift nearly all of the construction, licensing, and permitting risk associated with one or more nuclear plants from the company to its customers.’ The ratepayers would be stuck paying for the most expensive power generation and would assume 100 percent of the risk associated with unproven, uncertified, modular nuclear technology.”
The Cooper report notes: “In the four states in the Southeast where funds are being collected from ratepayers under new advanced cost recovery for nuclear reactor construction in the Southeast, each individual nuclear reactor project costs $15 to $20 billion. Over $4 billion has already been approved for advanced cost recovery, yet it appears increasingly unlikely that the most of reactors will ever be built. Ratepayers will have paid billions but received nothing for their money. If reactor construction moves forward as proposed, almost $85 billion of construction costs will move into the utility rate-base causing rapid increases in typical consumer bills within a decade. Less costly, more consumer and environment friendly alternatives will be crowded out of the resource mix.”
The Cooper report also points out:
