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.
2 Comments »
Monday, February 13, 2012
In this article from the Chicago section of the New York Times, Kari Lydersen reports on the imminent closing of the 83-year-old State Line Coal Plant. Its shutdown is being praised by environmentalists and others, but also raises new environmental and land use issues. Read the story.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Six-Year Delay in Enforcement Could Allow Greater Pollution from Area Coal Plants
CHICAGO – Eight Chicago-area environmental and public health organizations are petitioning federal regulators to take over an Illinois permitting program that has failed to meet Clean Air Act requirements for more than 15 years. For instance, the state has failed to issue effective operating permits for the largest pollution sources in Illinois– namely, the 22 coal plants in Illinois – potentially leaving residents at risk.
“These federal operating permits are critically important for monitoring Illinois’ old, highly polluting coal plants,” says Senior Attorney Faith Bugel from the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC). “Without effective Title V permits, Illinois residents have lost the right to sue coal plant operators when they break the law.”
Federal operating permits (or Title V permits) are important because the Title V program gives citizens (and not just state agencies like the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) the right to sue for permit violations. These permits also contain important provisions for monitoring pollution and reporting the results to the state – and without the permits it is almost impossible for citizens to verify whether coal plants and other major sources of air pollution are within pollution limits.
According to attorneys from ELPC and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), two Illinois agencies are responsible for these delays. First, the Illinois EPA delayed the initial issuance of the permits. Then, when coal plant operators appealed the permits before the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB), the IPCB compounded the delays by ‘staying’ the permits during the appeals process. As a result, these huge sources of air pollution have not had federal operating permits for decades.
“Title V is supposed to make Clean Air Act permitting more transparent by giving the public regular snapshots of the requirements for coal plant operators,” said NRDC attorney Ann Alexander. “But since we haven’t gotten those public updates, Illinois has essentially given some of the nation’s worst polluters a regulatory safe house from modern permit requirements that protect the public.”
Those stays have remained in effect even though the operators and the State have failed to resolve the permit appeals in settlement discussions that have dragged on for six years. The IPCB, nonetheless, continues to accept the parties’ representations that they are making progress in those discussions.
“When your child has asthma, six years can seem like an eternity,” says Kim Wasserman, a mother of an asthmatic who lives near the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago. “There are laws meant to protect us – to protect people from getting sick. But what good is a law that goes unenforced?”
The petition was filed on behalf of the following organizations: Environmental Law & Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Sierra Club, Environment Illinois, and Illinois Environmental Council.
Monday, January 23, 2012
According to this Jan. 22nd article in the Chicago Tribune: “Illinois’ largest single corporate polluter is Midwest Generation, the company that owns the Crawford and Fisk coal plants in Chicago and four more in the suburbs of Joliet, Romeoville and Waukegan and in Pekin in central Illinois. Burning coal from Wyoming and other Western states, the plants emitted more than 31 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010, an amount equivalent to the tailpipe emissions of about 6 million cars.” Read the article.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
CHICAGO – The Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) has launched PlugInChicagoMetro.org, a new tool to help educate consumers about electric cars available in the Chicagoland area in 2012. The interactive site includes comparative information about the seven makes/models of plug-in electric cars that are or will soon be available for purchase in the region, as well as information about electric rates, charging options, tax incentives, and other resources.
“Purchasing any car requires thoughtful consiaderation of many variables – on brand, color, price – and purchasing an electric car can involve an extra layer of research,” said Madeleine Weil, Senior Policy Advocate at ELPC. “PlugInChicagoMetro.org can help consumers by providing a central resource of information about the differences, benefits and decisions involved in being an electric car owner here in Chicago and the suburbs.”
ELPC is working to advance policies that support electric cars and public charging infrastructure in Chicago and the Midwest. “Electric and hybrid cars reduce our dependence on foreign oil, produce less pollution than conventional cars, and can help consumers save money at the gas pump,” said ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner. “We should also seize the opportunities to grow the clean car jobs of the future in the Midwest auto industry.”
According to Learner, government support for public charging stations powered by clean wind and solar power, entrepreneurial ingenuity in the business community and low-cost power available for nighttime charging are just some of the ingredients that will make Chicago a market leader. “The Chicago area can become one of the nation’s leading markets for these new clean electric, natural gas and hybrid vehicles,” he said.
More and more consumers are becoming interested in learning about electric vehicles. “There’s a lot of information about electric cars out there – from dealers selling a particular model, from ‘car guys’ obsessed with the innovative technology, from critics who will scrutinize any and all changes to the status quo – but we’re not any of those people,” Weil added. “We realize purchasing a car is a personal decision. We just want to provide a forum to help Chicago-area consumers make car-buying decisions for themselves and their families.”
For more information about electric vehicles available in the Midwest in 2012, please go to www.PlugInChicagoMetro.org.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
In this interview with Crain’s Chicago Business, newly confirmed Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider says that “job one” is “to get the organization to start thinking multimodally.” Read the article.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) commends Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for awarding more than $186 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation for work on the extension of the Chicago-St. Louis line to Joliet. Work will begin in the spring and will enable improved 110-mph passenger rail service along 70 percent of the line.
Howard Learner, ELPC President and a nationally recognized expert on high-speed passenger rail, had this to say about the award:
“This grant provides a critical step in bringing high-speed rail to the Midwest. Investing in modern, fast, comfortable and convenient higher-speed rail service is a smart move, since better rail service will improve mobility, reduce pollution, create new jobs and spur economic growth. While the media is fixated on the problems of the California corridor, the Midwest has sensibly begun building a first-class system that will reach 110 mph within a year.
“We are already seeing the economic benefits rail is bringing to the region. Normal, Illinois has already seen more than $200 million in investment. With the help of this grant, trains will reduce congestion and make the Midwest a better place to start businesses and create jobs.”
The entire upgrade of the Chicago-St. Louis line will reduce travel time and improve on-time performance. Ridership has grown 137 percent during the last five years on this popular corridor.
American-made trains will be used on the lines, which will be purchased as part of the $782 million grant for domestic manufacturing. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, California, Washington and Oregon will purchase 120 be-level passenger cars, along with 33 quick-acceleration locomotives.
ELPC is nationally known for its high-speed rail advocacy. The organization has studied passenger rail for nearly two decades and provide transportation counsel and policy support to state, local and federal government.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The Illinois Commerce Commission issued its Final Order in the case approving the Illinois Power Agency’s 2012 Procurement Plan. The Order should trigger a productive and inclusive workshop process that will result in an Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) procurement program for distributed solar projects. There were 37 public comments submitted to the ICC supporting solar DG workshops. Read the public comments here.
