A look at issues of concern involving our planet.
Illinois gas plants could offset Clean Energy’s gains
Weeks after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, his administration tentatively OK’d a new source of heat-trapping pollution: a new natural-gas power plant in Pawnee in Sangamon County. The new facility would let Lincoln Land Energy’s plant discharge more CO₂ than 800,000 vehicles each year.
With two other gas plants in Elwood and Morris approved during GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner’s term, the generators “would wipe out climate benefits from closing four of the state’s coal-fired power plants last year,” according to Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne, a Bradley University alum.
Under the new law, “gas plants can operate without climate-focused restrictions until the 2045 deadline for carbon-free electricity in Illinois,” Hawthorne wrote.
State AG Raoul suing coal operator for PFA water pollution
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed suit against Sugar Camp Energy, accusing the company of discharging polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) into waters near Macedonia.
The toxic PFAs — called “forever chemicals” for their resistance to degradation in the environment — are synthetic chemicals not natural to the environment. They’re used in products such as water-repellant clothing, nonstick cookware and firefighting foam — the substance the company allegedly caused to be released in the summer of 2021, when firefighters responded to an underground coal-mine fire.
Sugar Creek’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) authorizes the discharge of wastewater, but not PFAs, Raoul says.
Interfaith ‘revival’ ties climate to voting rights
Faith leaders in the South are preparing a “revival” effort to bolster voters around what they see as two crucial issues: climate change and voting rights.
The Southeast Faith Leaders Network’s year-long campaign is targeting Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, which organizers say are on the front lines of the impacts of climate change and attempts to suppress voting access.
“Those two issues are just interlocking,” said Alecia Brewster, program director for South Carolina Interfaith Power & Light. “The changes that are needed [on climate change] are able to be addressed when everyone has a voice. The vote is the way to provide everyone with a voice in the conversation.”
Walmart buying in to indoor vertical farming
The country’s largest retailer, Walmart, is investing in ag startup company Plenty to use indoor vertical farming to more swiftly grow and deliver fresh produce to its stores.
Vertical farming uses less water and land but no pesticides, and can produce harvests all year near distribution points.