For years, Illinois residents have literally been choking on the state’s failure to invest in clean and more fuel-efficient forms of energy production.
Air pollution from coal-fired power plants is already responsible for 1,700 premature deaths and 33,000 asthma attacks in Illinois each year, according to an October 2000 Abt Associates study.
There’s no debate over the fact that our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels has increased health problems and added to global warming. So why did Illinois go ahead last year and pass a massive $3.5 billionincentive program, largely to benefit coal production, which continues this lopsided energy portfolio?
Instead of taking its cues from other states, such as Wisconsin and Iowa, that have started to invest in alternative energy fuel and greater energy efficiency, Illinois is living in the dark ages and continuing to plug into an outdated, dangerous program. At the present time, our energy mix for producing electricity is composed of 45 percent coal, 45 percent nuclear, 4 percent natural gas, 5 percent petroleum and less than 1 percent renewable. “Renewable” energy sources include solar power, wind power, clean biomass (such as capturing landfill gases and burning switch grasses) and geothermal energy.
The Clean Air Act of 1977 is full of loopholes that allow older Illinois power plants to pollute many times more than new plants. Illinois power plants built before 1977 are allowed to emit unlimited amounts of mercury, which is toxic, and carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming.
Over the last 40 years, the world’s temperature increased by 1 degree Fahrenheit. The world’s top scientists studying climate change predict that Earth’s surface temperature will rise between 3 and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years.
Illinois’ other favored energy source, nuclear power, poses even stickier problems when it comes to pollution and national security risks. Illinois has more nuclear power plants–six–than any other state in the country. No matter how great the energy need, the risk of catastrophic disaster, the problems of storing thousands of pounds of radioactive waste, and the national security risks make this an unacceptable trade-off. Contrary to the promises made long ago by its cheerleaders, nuclear power hasn’t turned out to be too cheap to meter.
Illinois’ refusal to acknowledge the realities of 21st Century energy needs is like investing in carriage posts instead of parking meters at the turn of the last century.
Still, some municipalities are beginning to see the light and press for change. Chicago has set a standard that the rest of Illinois should follow. Chicago and 48 other municipalities have pledged to buy 20 percent of the electricity they need for city buildings, streetlights and subways from renewable energy sources within five years. Chicago’s plan will avoid annual generating plant emissions of 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 1,000 tons of nitrous oxide every year.
By contrast, Illinois has set a goal to increase its energy mix from 1 percent for renewables to 5 percent by 2010 and 15 percent by 2020. But even these low goals aren’t mandatory.
If Illinois wants to reduce health and environmental costs, we should increase our energy efficiency 20 percent by 2010 and make renewable energy 20 percent of our energy source by 2020. The Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund’s report, “Generating Solutions,” shows that we can easily meet a renewable standard of 20 percent by 2020, at the same time pumping billions of dollars into Illinois’ economy. The report shows that Illinois could generate 88 percent of its current generation from wind, clean biomass and landfill gas alone, enough energy to power more than 15 million homes. Tapping into Illinois’ considerable solar power potential would increase these numbers. Indeed, just one concentrated solar system covering about 200 acres would generate enough electricity to power more than 3,000 homes.
Few issues rival the broad influence and lasting consequences of our energy future. The shape our energy policy takes will have far-reaching impact, from the jobs we will hold and the stability of the economy to the purchases we will make and the environment we live in. Given the wide-ranging consequences, the next governor of Illinois must pull the plug on our current energy policy and put an energy plan in place that protects public health and safety.
