ELPC Ranked in Top 10 Highest-Rated Charities in U.S.
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.
ELPC’s Chicago Eco-Office Receives LEED Platinum Certification
ELPC's new green office features natural daylighting, state-of-the-art HVAC controls, low-flow plumbing fixtures, ENERGY STAR appliances, and recycled and locally sourced materials. Learn about our new office.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed two bills over the weekend that will provide a financial boost for electric cars in the state. ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner says Illinois has an edge over some other states in the emerging electric cars market because the state’s energy mix at night, when most electric cars are charged, is comprised of relatively carbon-free wind and nuclear power. An E&E News article is available to those with a subscription.
Illinois legislators served up what can only be described as ComEd’s dream come true. What company wouldn’t love to have a law guaranteeing it double-digit returns?
ELPC Senior Attorney Rob Kelter
speaks at a press conference in Peoria, Ill.
Read coverage from the Champaign News Gazette
or view this video clip from
local NBC affiliate WEEK:
The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) are marking the first day of summer by urging Illinois residents to take advantage of $170 million in new rebates and discounts on energy-efficient appliances that can help ease the pain of high summer electric bills. New energy efficiency programs in Illinois began this June, just in time to lower your high summer energy bills and help protect the environment.
“Energy efficiency means making your home more comfortable while lowering your bills,” said Rob Kelter, Senior Attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “When we save energy, we cut down on air pollution by burning less coal and natural gas.”
“We’ve known for a long time that making your home more energy efficient is not only good for the planet, but it’s great for your pocketbook,” said CUB Energy Attorney and Outreach Advocate Celia Christiansen. “These energy-saving programs can put an extra $100 or more in your pocket. It’s a win-win on savings and the environment and that’s why CUB and ELPC are teaming up to promote the programs.”
ELPC and CUB outlined four easy ways energy-efficiency programs can save Ameren customers $100 or more this year.
Replace Your Light Bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs. Don’t wait until your old bulbs burn out to start saving money. There are at least 15 light bulbs in most homes. Each CFL bulb can save about $7 a year, or $40 over the life of the bulb. Now customers can find CFLs for deep discounts, 35-66 percent, online or at stores. So it’s easy for everyone to make the switch and start saving money.
Get an AC Makeover. Replacing your old central air conditioning unit can save you up to $200 a year—utility programs provide rebates up to $600 for efficient central air conditioners and $35 for window air conditioners.
Recycle That Extra Fridge. Refrigerators use more energy than any other appliance except air conditioners. If you have an extra fridge or freezer running in your home, it’s costing you around $100 per year. Instead of spending $100 to run an extra fridge, Illinois utility companies will pay you $25-50 to pick up and recycle your old fridge.
Buy a Programmable Thermostat. ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostats are more accurate than non-digital thermostats and can help you maintain consistent comfort levels and save the average home $100 per year on electricity costs. Utility programs offer rebates on programmable thermostats
These programs are part of Illinois’ new efficiency standards, designed to reduce energy consumption in Illinois 25 percent by 2025. For details on these and other incentives, go to www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org, click on “Live Wire”
ELPC, CUB and other consumer advocates were instrumental in creating and designing these programs, which are projected to save Illinois consumers more than $200 million each year in lower energy bills. The incentives range from a $10 rebate on a smart power strip to a $300 rebate on a heat pump water heater.
Implementing the Chicago Climate Action Plan’s Clean and Renewable Energy Goals
The 2008 Chicago Climate Action Plan established a goal of reducing Chicago’s greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020. Developing new sources of clean and renewable energy will be a big part of the plan’s implementation, and ELPC has played a key role shaping the strategy.
At the request of Mayor Daley, ELPC and the City of Chicago Department of Environment co-chaired a working group comprised of clean energy business executives, entrepreneurs, academics, finance experts, government and utility representatives. Working with this group, ELPC developed a set of policy and program recommendations that, if implemented, will set the city on a path to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals and ancillary objectives such as economic development and job creation.
The Clean and Renewable Policy and Program Recommendations Report is now complete. Recommendations are organized along two tracks with elements addressing: (1) policy advocacy objectives, with a primary goal of greening the grid through full implementation of the Illinois Renewable Energy Standard, and (2) local program development at the city level, aimed at increasing distributed generation in Chicago. Stay tuned for an announcement about a press conference with Mayor Daley to formally release the report and present the implementation plan. Read the final report here.
Advancing Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency
ELPC has led the charge to transition Illinois from having little renewable energy installed and virtually no utility-sponsored energy efficiency programs to a position of national policy leadership. Years of work led to significant policy breakthroughs between 2007 and 2010, when Illinois enacted: (1) One of the nation’s leading renewable energy standards (RES) – ramping up to 25% renewables by 2025; (2) The nation’s leading energy efficiency performance standard (EEPS) – ramping down to a negative net 2% reduction in energy use/demand by 2015; and (3) Strong combined heat and power (CHP) and distributed renewable energy generation standards (net metering and interconnection). These and other pivotal policies are key to advancing renewable energy systems for homes and businesses.
Now ELPC is building on this strong foundation by working to fully implement and then expand upon the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency goals. This clean energy infrastructure development is critical for jobs in Chicago, in Illinois, and throughout the Midwest and nation. See ELPC’s clean energy supply chain documents for more information.
Improving Air Quality
ELPC has joined with many community advocates in Chicago to clean up or shut down the Fisk and Crawford coal plants on the city’s southwest side. These old and highly polluting plants harm public health and contribute to global warming pollution. Our work includes providing legal advocacy to local groups, promoting the adoption of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, and publishing new reports on the health costs caused by pollution from the plants.
Cleaning Up the Chicago River
ELPC has been working for many years, along with our allies at Friends of the Chicago River and other organizations, to clean up the Chicago River and make sure it is safe and healthy for both people and wildlife.
Chicago is one of the few major cities in the U.S. that doesn’t disinfect its wastewater before dumping it into local waterways, including the Chicago River. This results in high levels of pathogens that threaten the health and safety of those who recreate on the water — waders, rowing teams, anglers, kayakers, etc. Chicago also has two urban coal plants that discharge hot water into the river, where fish and other aquatic wildlife need cooler waters to thrive.
Through a series of proceedings before the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the Illinois Pollution Control Board, ELPC is working to ensure the Chicago River and other Chicago-area waterways are cleaner and cooler.
Advancing High-Speed Rail
ELPC has worked throughout our 15-year history to develop and promote a Midwest High-Speed Rail Network that links Chicago with other Midwestern cities through safe, convenient and comfortable 110-mph train service. Linking Minneapolis, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and St. Louis with Chicago in a hub-and-spoke network, high-speed rail will improve mobility, create jobs and spur economic growth by pulling together the regional economy. It will protect our environment by avoiding pollution, reducing congestion, and counteracting sprawl by pulling jobs, people and businesses downtown into our central cities.
As the nation’s and the region’s transportation hub, Chicago is key to this initiative, and among Midwest governors, Governor Quinn has provided essential leadership. ELPC will continue to play a strong leadership role in monitoring the implementation of a Midwest High-Speed Rail Network, building support for state investments, and assuring that a regional Chicago-hubbed system is put into place.
Advancing the Market for Electric Cars
ELPC is working to promote policies that will create a smart and strategic integration of plug-in vehicles, focusing on areas where low-cost, low-carbon electricity is available to make plug-ins part of the solution to global warming.
With low-carbon energy available from wind and nuclear power, especially at night, the charging scenario in Northern Illinois is optimal. ELPC is working to promote off-peak charging, solar public charging stations and other programs that will maximize the benefits of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
An off-peak vehicle charging rate would offer consumers a monetary incentive to charge up while electricity demand is low and coal plants are in the “off” position. On-site solar power could be used to power public vehicle charging stations, ensuring that the electricity that charges plug-ins comes from the sun, rather than highly polluting coal plants.
ELPC was honored to receive the President’s Award from the American Institute of Architects Illinois for extraordinary achievements in advancing livable communities.
The Award recognizes ELPC’s work to promote smart growth and energy efficiency, in particular our years of leadership and advocacy to establish Energy Efficient Building Codes for residential and commercial buildings in Illinois.
A U.S. Department of Energy study estimated that Illinois’ Residential Energy Efficient Building Code will result in at least 15% savings annually on utility bills and will average homeowner more than $240 per year.
ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner’s opinion piece in today’s Springfield State Journal-Register points out the many benefits a high-speed rail network would bring to the Midwest:
“…For many years, federal and state taxpayers have provided trillions of dollars of support for highways, airports and air service. It’s now time for public investment in high-speed rail service to provide a third intercity transportation option that works better. According to an economic study conducted for the Midwest state Departments of Transportation, the new Midwest high-speed rail network can create 57,000 permanent new jobs across the region, produce more than a billion dollars in additional household income, and spur almost $5 billion in private new development near Midwest rail stations. Let’s seize the opportunity to capture these benefits.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed suit against coal plant owner Midwest Generation, LLC for violating the Clean Air Act. The complaint states that Midwest Generation failed to install adequate pollution controls on the six coal plants it operates in Illinois.
ELPC has been working with a coalition of health, environmental and community groups to force Midwest Generation comply with the Clean Air Act and clean up its coal plants. On July 28, 2009, ELPC and the coalition filed a 60 day notice of their intent to sue Midwest Generation for Clean Air Act violations.
“Midwest Generation’s own reports show that they have been breaking the law and endangering public health for years,” said Faith Bugel, Senior Attorney for ELPC. ”We’re encouraged to see that U.S. EPA and the State of Illinois are holding Midwest Generation accountable for breaking the law. ELPC and our colleagues will remain engaged as the lawsuit moves forward.”
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that pollution from nine coal plants in northern Illinois causes 311 premature deaths, 4100 emergency room visits, and 21,500 asthma attacks annually. Midwest Generation owns coal plants in Chicago, Waukegan, Joliet, Romeoville and Pekin, Illinois.
On August 13, 2009, Illinois passed a new composting bill, Senate Bill 99. The bill, sponsored by Senator Heather Steans, opens the door to commercial composting in Illinois. The Environmental Law & Policy Center and other groups provided technical support for drafting and negotiating the bill.
Statewide, organic waste represents 1/3 of the trash brought to Illinois landfills. The new bill creates smarter regulations for commercial composting, making it economically attractive for investors to begin commercial operations. Business plans are already in the works for services that pick up food scraps from Chicago restaurants, compost the material and sell the end product. Composting businesses will create new income and four times as many jobs as traditional waste disposal according to the Institute for Local Self Reliance.
“This bill will literally allow Illinois businesses to make wealth out of waste,” said Mel Nickerson, Staff Attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center. “We’ve gotten a lot smarter about reducing waste from materials like paper and aluminum. Now Illinois can change how we deal with food waste, allowing us to create rich compost, lower green house gases and turn a profit.”
Coal combustion produces smog, soot, acid rain, the neurotoxin mercury, and is the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, a leading cause of global warming. ELPC works throughout the Midwest to clean up old, dirty coal plants and prevent the building of unnecessary new plants. Our current includes:
In Chicago, a team of ELPC’s attorneys, policy advocates, and communications experts is working with the Chicago Clean Power Coalition to clean up or shut down the old, dirty Fisk and Crawford coal plants located in the city’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, respectively.
ELPC’s and the Coalition’s work includes advocacy for the passage of a City ordinance that would significantly reduce soot and greenhouse gas pollution from Chicago’s coal plants. The Clean Power Ordinance would make Chicago the first city in the nation to regulate pollution from coal plants.
The Ordinance was introduced in July 2011 with enough votes to pass City Council. It now has 35 co-sponsors (26 are required for passage) and is supported by majority of the City Council, including 9 newly elected aldermen. In addition to the cosponsors, the ordinance is backed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a grassroots campaign of nearly 60 community, health, labor and environmental groups from across the city.
Michigan’s Wolverine Coal Plant
In Michigan, ELPC is lead counsel for a coalition that opposes the proposed new 600-megawatt Wolverine coal plant in the picturesque fishing town of Rogers City. Our work has included massive, coordinated statewide efforts to document legal deficiencies with 8 coal plants proposed in the state as well as more robust legal challenge of the Wolverine plant in particular.
The coalition scored a major victory when former Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE) Director Rebecca Humphries denied a permit needed to build the controversial plant. But a state court overturned that decision, and the state agency issued the air permit to Wolverine in June 2011. ELPC is now preparing to appeal that permit.
Kentucky’s Cash Creek and NewGas Coal Plants
ELPC represents the Kentucky Chapter of the Sierra Club and other local groups in legal challenges to air permits issues to two coal-to-synthetic natural gas plants, Cash Creek and Kentucky NewGas. Currently, ELPC’s appeals of the plants’ Clean Air Act Title V operating permits are in the Kentucky state court system. ELPC has also petitioned the U.S. EPA to object to the permits.
Recent Highlights
In April 2010 and again in July 2011, ELPC joined Chicago Alderman Joe Moore and a coalition of business and community groups to introduce a City ordinance that would significantly reduce soot and greenhouse gas pollution from Chicago’s coal plants. The Clean Power Ordinance would make Chicago the first city in the nation to regulate pollution from coal plants.
In August 2009, US EPA and the Illinois Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Midwest Generation for Clean Air Act violations committed by the company’s coal plants in northern Illinois. ELPC and our partners have joined this lawsuit.
In February 2009, ELPC and its coalition scored a victory on its legal challenge of the proposed Wolverine coal plant; Governor Granholm announced a major policy shift for Michigan—the state will not issue any more permits for new coal plants without first assessing cleaner energy alternatives.
In Fall 2008, the Federal EPA supported our legal challenge that Kentucky violated the Clean Air Act in issuing state permits to the Trimble coal plant and now state officials in Kentucky must “correct” the permit to be more restrictive.
In 2006, ELPC and a broad coalition of environmental and public health groups were successful in the adoption of the Illinois Mercury Reduction Rule, and three years later, we continue to monitor the utilities’ compliance with this law.
Illinois can look forward to a cleaner energy future thanks to a bill signed into law by Governor Quinn on Sunday. Senate Bill 2150 increases the number of utility companies who will meet renewable energy goals and creates specific goals for solar energy in Illinois.
“Renewable energy is creating jobs and income in Illinois while protecting public health and our environment for future generations,” said Barry Machett, Co-Legislative Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “This bill brings more companies on board to develop the clean energy of the future and ensures we will have a diverse, sustainable supply of energy to meet our state’s needs.”
In Chicago, a team of ELPC’s attorneys, policy advocates, and communications experts is working with the 
