illinois bak

=bak 7 22html studer
=no lnx an 7 23'Raw political sham': House Democrat torches GOP witness for invoking racist Great Replacement Theory
Brandon Gage July 19, 2023United States Representative Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) clapped back at a witness who invoked the controversial and racist "Great Replacement Theory" during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Right-wing lawmakers like House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York) have repeatedly referenced GRT — which maintains that white people are being supplanted by foreigners of color — as an excuse to crack down on undocumented immigrants. The conspiracy has also been cited by perpetrators of mass shootings to rationalize murder.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom they allege "created our nation's historic border crisis by implementing intentionally reckless policies, failing to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and ignoring the advice, recommendations, and warnings of experienced law enforcement."
READ MORE: Nebraska Republican invokes racist 'Great Replacement Theory' during debate on six-week abortion ban
Ramirez's remarks came after Chairman Mark Green (R-Tennessee) called on her by the wrong name.
"Ms. Garcia, you're recognized," Green announced.
"Ramirez. Ms. Ramirez," the congresswoman corrected.
"Ms. Ramirez, I'm sorry," Green replied.

READ MORE: 'Their electoral strategy': Tucker Carlson stokes fear among viewers while blaming Dems for 'Great Replacement' theory
"Thank you," Ramirez continued. "And as I think about the hearing now and hearing the witnesses, I think about just last year how a horrific domestic terror attack at Buffalo, New York supermarket left our nation reeling. My colleagues across the aisle offered up their thoughts and prayers, but they offered no actions to address racially and ethnically-motivated violent extremism. It is not lost on me that before murdering ten people at the supermarket last year, the shooter wrote and I quote, 'We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history.' However, twisted justification the shooter believed he was repelling an invasion of the United States by immigrants from Latin America. Does that sound familiar?" Ramirez asked retired Department of Justice Special Agent in Charge of Special Operations Division Derek Maltz."Mr. Maltz, in your testimony you said, 'I know what's going on in America,' so let me ask you. Do you support the assertion that the United States is experiencing a historic invasion by immigrants? That's a yes or no question," Ramirez said."Illegal immigrants. Immigrants from around the world, yes," Maltz responded."Yes or no," Ramirez reiterated."Yes," stated Maltz."So you believe that we are experiencing a historic invasion of immigrants?" Ramirez added."Yes," Maltz confirmed."So despite knowing that the Pittsburgh shooter justified his actions based on the idea of an immigrant invasion to replace white people, despite knowing that invasion ideology was used to justify the shootings in El Paso and Buffalo, you continued to espouse this Great Replacement Theory — an extremist ideology that people like me when my mother crossed the border pregnant with me — don't deserve to be here because we are invading the country?" Ramirez retorted."Mr. Chairman, this hearing is not a fact-finding mission," Ramirez concluded. "It's a raw political sham to stoke fear, and it will continue to justify the violence against immigrant communities, and I find that unacceptable."Watch below via Heartland Signal or at this link.=an 3 23<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">illinois State Representative Chris Miller (R-110th District), a farmer by trade, recently claimed that climate change concerns are overblown because of the role trees play in capturing carbon dioxide.<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">"We're not having a climate crisis, but what we are having is a crisis, crisis of common sense. If you think about it, CO2 uh, manmade CO2 collectively adds up to one-one-hundredth of one percent of the atmosphere around the globe. If you think about the entire CO2, it's about four-one-hundredths of one percent. And there's one thing that I know is that I remember from an Earth science class, there's something called photosynthesis," Miller said, "and it's where green leafy plants actually absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, and it's a way God made it, a way to clean up the climate and to keep things in balance the way it should be."<div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Under ideal conditions, such as a cessation of deforestation and restoration of millions of trees, photosynthesis can aid in mitigating the warming effects of CO2, <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the National Aeronautics and Space Administration explained</a> in 2019. Indeed, countless studies have <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/whats-redd-and-will-it-help-tackle-climate-change/#:_{:text=When%20deforestation%20occurs%2C%20much%20of,Africa%2C%20followed%20by%20South%20America.}" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">definitively concluded</a> that <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/deforestation/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">habitat loss and the conversion of forests into acreage to grow feed for livestock</a> are exacerbating the climate emergency.<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/things-arent-moving-fast-enough/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: 'Things just aren't moving fast enough': IPCC issues most dire warning yet in latest report" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Things just aren't moving fast enough': IPCC issues most dire warning yet in latest report</a><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Touching on Miller's remarks about God, social media users pointed out that humanity is not treating Earth's biosphere responsibly or sustainably.<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/LeeMart45282246/status/1638968809586302977?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lee Martin</a>: "That's the whole point - we aren't taking care of what God made. We are poor stewards of the earth, in disobedience of his command."<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/JudyVoluspa/status/1638968258836692995?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">JudyVöluspá</a>: "He's picking small parts of science just like he picks small parts of the Bible."
<p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/thom_777H/status/1638966654540345347?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Thom_777</a>: "Republicans ...always so out of touch, non-empathy and anti-science. What happened to these people?"=<div>an me 1 23</div><div>A small faction of sheriffs in the state of Illinois is <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/group-of-illinois-sheriffs-say-departments-will-not-comply-with-assault-weapon-registration-requirements/3043115/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">pushing back</a> against the state's ban on assault rifles, an initiative being enforced by Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker's (D) office.According to NBC Chicago, a legal battle is brewing in the state as some believe the newly passed piece of legislation —House-Bill 5471, also referred to as the Protect Illinois Communities Act— violates Second Amendment rights.Per the news outlet, a number of law enforcement officials in the state have weighed in with their assessments of the bill offering relatively critical opinions of it.READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/heck-with-that-dick-durbin" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'The heck with that': Dick Durbin says Saudi Arabia 'should be out of business' over oil production cuts</a>McHenry County, Ill. Sheriff Robb Tadelman took to social media with his concerns following the passing of the bill. “Neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the state, nor will we be arresting or housing law-abiding individuals that have been charged solely with non-compliance with this act,” he said.Other Illinois law enforcement officials in various counties also weighed in with similar concerns, namely Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey, Sheriff Jack Harlan in Boone County, and Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana, according to NBC Chicago.In fact, Downey <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KankakeeCountySheriffsOffice/posts/pfbid02RWEU4SJ8eYhqs8E4bzx6tx9U5TkwpEh7cCUSDM84T9sDVsJYKBtxNyqJ6PTzkBktl" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">released a statement</a> on the sheriff department's Facebook page addressing the new bill. Some Republican lawmakers have also echoed law enforcement officials' concerns.“We will not comply with this legislation because we don’t have to,” said former Illinois State Rep and Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey “Our Constitution protects us. The sponsors of this bill may have won a temporary victory today, but they will lose because they cannot get around the rights we have guaranteed in our Constitution.”READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/domestic-terrorism-2658838676/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Why the power grid is an 'attractive target' for domestic terrorists and white supremacists: report</a>Despite the critical takes on the new law, Pritzker and his office are standing firm in support of it.“Anybody who doesn’t comply, there are consequences for that,” Pritzker said. “You don’t get to choose which laws you comply with in the state of Illinois. The State Police is responsible for enforcement, as are all law enforcement all across this state. They will, in fact, do their job or they won’t be in their job.”Per the news outlet, the governor's office also described the pushback as "'political grandstanding at its worst,' and said that sheriffs and departments that refuse to enforce the ban are 'in violation of their oath of office.'"“The assault weapons ban is the law of Illinois. The General Assembly passed the bill and the governor signed it into law to protect children in schools, worshippers at church and families at parades from the fear of sudden mass murder,” a spokesperson said. “Sheriffs have a constitutional duty to uphold the laws of the state, not pick and choose which laws they support and when.”Pritzker’s spokesperson also said, “We’re confident that this law will hold up to any future legal challenges."READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/kenosha-shooter-kyle-rittenhouses-mom-receives-standing-ovation-at-gop-event-in-wisconsin" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse's Mom receives standing ovation at GOP event in Wisconsin</a></div><div>=</div>=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/billionaire-hedge-fund/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/billionaire-hedge-fund/</a><div>

</a><div><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">

</a><h3><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">Series:

                            The Secret IRS Files

</a></h3>

    Inside the Tax Records of the .001%

</div>

For billionaire Ken Griffin, it was well worth spending $54 million to

ensure he and other rich Illinoisans wouldn’t have to pay more tax.

By the time Illinois voters streamed into voting booths on Election

Day in 2020, Griffin, then Illinois’ wealthiest resident, had made sure

they’d heard plenty about why they should not vote to raise taxes on him

and the state’s other rich people. His tens of millions paid for an

unrelenting stream of ads and flyers against an initiative on that

year’s ballot, which would have allowed Illinois lawmakers to join 32

other states in setting higher tax rates for the wealthy than for

everyone else.

In the end, Griffin spent about $18 for every one of the 3.1 million

votes against the initiative. After initial optimism about its

prospects, the measure came up hundreds of thousands of votes short and

went down to defeat.

Rarely does the public get a clear view of the payoff for wealthy

Americans who put their money down to achieve a political outcome. But

in this case, ProPublica’s <a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">trove of IRS data</a>

can provide crucial context for the ballot fight. For Griffin and many

of his fellow ultrawealthy Illinoisans, spending even such a vast amount

was well worth it when compared with what a tax hike might have cost

them.

According to the data, Griffin averaged an annual income of $1.7

billion from 2013 to 2018. That was the fourth-highest in the country,

behind only the likes of Bill Gates.

Using that average income as a guideline, the new state tax increase,

which aimed to raise the rate from 5% to 8% on the highest incomes,

would have cost Griffin around $51 million every year in extra tax. In

especially good years — in 2018, Griffin reported income of almost $2.9

billion — he might have been forced to pay more than $80 million more.

A Citadel spokesperson responding on Griffin’s behalf pointed out that, according to ProPublica’s <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed/" class="rm-stats-tracked">previously published data</a>, Griffin paid the second-highest amount of taxes of any American from 2013 to 2018. “Over the past decade,” he said in <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22077481-citadel-statement" class="rm-stats-tracked">a statement</a>,

“it is almost a certainty that Ken has been the largest individual

taxpayer in the State of Illinois — a state notorious for profligate

spending and rampant corruption.” Griffin has said he’s not against

raising taxes; he opposed the measure, he added in his statement,

because “Illinois needs to put its fiscal house in order before

burdening hard-working families with yet more taxes.”

The state’s current flat tax rate of 5% is far below the top rates in

other large states run by Democrats like California and New York and

comparable to those in some Republican-led states like Utah. Advocates

for raising the rates on the wealthy in Illinois say the state needs

additional revenue, pointing to its regular budget deficits and deep

pension debts.

Not all Griffin’s political bets pay off. A candidate for Illinois

governor he supported with tens of millions of dollars went down to

defeat in June’s Republican primary. Meanwhile, even though the income

tax initiative was defeated, Griffin announced last month that he was

moving Citadel’s headquarters to Miami and relocating there himself.

Though no other donor to the anti-tax fight came close to matching the

tens of millions that Griffin gave, others made contributions that were

more than what most Illinois households earn in a year. ProPublica

analyzed the tax data of nine other ultrawealthy supporters of Griffin’s

anti-tax campaign. According to our estimate, this group of heirs and

business owners, which includes some of the wealthiest people in

Illinois, can expect to see a healthy return on their contributions and

save millions in taxes over the coming years.

The math behind our estimate is simple: Wealthy Illinoisans will save

about 3% of their income, because that was the size of the proposed tax

increase on the wealthy. That’s essentially how Illinois’ state income

taxes work for Illinois residents. With some adjustments, a state tax

rate is applied to the income listed on their federal returns.

ProPublica contacted all 10 of the anti-tax donors mentioned in this

article and the accompanying chart. None challenged the methodology used

to estimate their tax savings.

Richard Uihlein, who along with Griffin has emerged as a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/voter-ref-foundation" class="rm-stats-tracked">conservative megadonor</a> on <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/while-trump-cracked-down-on-immigration-a-republican-megadonor-sued-for-a-special-visa" class="rm-stats-tracked">the national stage</a>,

pitched in $100,000 to the anti-tax campaign — for him a modest amount

given his average annual income of $492 million in recent years. Through

his family foundation, Uihlein has also given millions of dollars to

the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-policy-institute-john-tillman-transactions" class="rm-stats-tracked">Illinois Policy Institute</a>,

a small-government group that fought the graduated tax plan. Uihlein’s

average income would lead to about $15 million of annual tax savings

from the defeat of the ballot initiative.

Sam Zell, the real estate mogul known in Chicago for putting together a

leveraged buyout of the Tribune Company that preceded its bankruptcy,

gave $1.1 million. Based on his recent income, he would save $1.6

million in taxes each year. A spokesperson for Zell declined to comment.

Patrick Ryan made his billions in insurance, and Northwestern

University’s football stadium and basketball arena bear his family’s

name, thanks to the hundreds of millions he’s given the school. He gave

$1 million. His recent income suggests $2.1 million in annual tax

savings.

Richard Colburn, whose billionaire family owns the electrical parts

maker CED, gave $500,000 to the anti-tax campaign, which would help save

him $5.5 million each year in taxes, according to our estimates. In an

email message to ProPublica, Colburn said his reasons for opposing the

graduated tax were simple: It would have “eaten substantially” into his

investment earnings, some of which he passes on to a nonprofit

foundation he manages. Like Griffin, he contended the state would not

have used the money well.

“Though I enjoy living in the Chicago area, I could save immensely by

moving to a lower-tax state, and therefore I ‘invested’ to limit the

temptation on me to relocate,” Colburn wrote. “Another element of my

‘investment’ stems from my desire to limit the mis-spending by the State

of Illinois that occurs every time Springfield has extra money.” (His

full statement is <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22077440-richard-colburn-response" class="rm-stats-tracked">here</a>.)

Donald Wilson, founder of the trading firm DRW, gave $250,000 to the

anti-tax campaign. That donation in particular looks modest when weighed

against his potential tax savings: Based on Wilson’s average annual

income of $114 million, the proposed tax increase would have cost him

$3.5 million more every year.

Some of the contributions to the anti-tax campaign came from trusts,

special legal entities often used by the wealthy to hide or protect

assets, as well as to avoid the estate tax. Richard Stephenson, founder

of a chain of for-profit hospitals called Cancer Treatment Centers of

America, contributed $300,000 through his Celebrate Life Trust.

Stephenson is a longtime Republican donor and such an enthusiast of Ayn

Rand’s message of uncompromising self-interest that he was an executive

producer on two movies based on the novel “Atlas Shrugged.”

Uihlein, Ryan, Wilson and Stephenson also did not respond to requests for comment.

One $25,000 contribution came from the Philip M. Friedmann Family

Charitable Trust. Friedmann made his fortune by selling the greeting

card company he co-founded to a private equity firm.

Friedmann’s trust, unlike Stephenson’s, is a personal foundation. That

means Friedmann likely received a tax deduction for donating to his own

organization, which then used some of the funds to fight an increase in

his taxes.

The contribution to the anti-tax campaign by Friedmann’s foundation

appears to have violated federal tax law, three nonprofit tax law

experts told ProPublica. Personal foundations are prohibited from

spending to try to influence legislation, a category that includes

contributions to a ballot initiative committee, said Lloyd Hitoshi

Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame. Organizations that break that law

are required to pay a penalty of up to 25% of the expenditure in

addition to attempting to retrieve the money.

Although this prohibition is <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/lobbying-activity-of-section-501c3-private-foundations" class="rm-stats-tracked">spelled out</a> on the IRS’ <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/taxes-on-taxable-expenditures-private-foundations" class="rm-stats-tracked">online guide</a>

for private foundations, “smaller family foundations don’t always know

the applicable rules,” said Ellen Aprill, a law professor at Loyola

Marymount University.

Friedmann did not respond to requests for comment.

Illinois didn’t have an income tax of any kind until 1969, when a deal

between GOP Gov. Richard Ogilvie and Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard

J. Daley resulted in a flat statewide tax of 2.5% on individuals and 4%

on corporations. Some Democrats said the tax disproportionately punished

low-income families, and pushed for higher rates on the wealthy. But

Republicans and other critics argued for expiration dates or rate

limits, warning that otherwise lawmakers would simply keep hiking and

expanding income taxes. The following year, a compromise was encoded in

the state’s updated constitution. It clarified that the General Assembly

had the power to impose an income tax but only “at a non-graduated

rate.”

As the state’s fiscal problems grew in the following decades,

governors and legislators repeatedly raised the flat tax rate until it

was up to 5% on individuals. In 2014, multimillionaire private equity

investor Bruce Rauner, a Republican backed by Griffin, was elected

governor after promising to slash taxes, and the rate was lowered to

3.75%. But as Rauner fell into a bitter standoff with the

Democratic-controlled General Assembly, the state went without a budget

for more than two years, leaving it in an even deeper financial hole.

The General Assembly, including some Republicans, voted in 2017 to raise the income tax again, to 4.95% on individuals.

Democrat JB Pritzker, a billionaire investor whose family founded the

Hyatt hotel chain, launched his campaign for governor by casting himself

as a wealthy man who would fight for the middle class — and for a

graduated tax that was less burdensome for low-income families than the

flat-rate system. Rauner vowed to stop him. Their 2018 campaigns spent

more than $250 million combined, including $22.5 million that Griffin

gave to Rauner, before Pritzker won that November.

With the support of a committed and rich governor, a graduated income tax suddenly seemed possible in Illinois.

“That created a bunch of new momentum,” said Ralph Martire, executive

director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a think tank

that argued in favor of a graduated income tax. “That was enough

political support to really get the grassroots groups working on it.”

Outside of a special convention, both the Illinois House and Senate

must sign off on a state constitutional amendment by three-fifths

majorities. Voters then need to approve it, either by a clear majority

of all voters casting ballots in a general election or a three-fifths

majority of those voting on the measure itself.

In 2019 the Senate and then the House each met that threshold, passing

a measure that would eliminate the graduated income tax ban if voters

approved an amendment. Companion legislation laid out what the new tax

schedule would be: Rates would either drop or remain at 4.95% for people

reporting income up to $250,000; they would climb from there, to a rate

of 7.99% on individuals earning above $750,000 and couples above $1

million. The top rate was within the range of those in other Midwest

states with graduated systems — higher than Missouri’s but lower than

Iowa’s.

Supporters and opponents then had more than a year to make their cases.

Illinois election laws set some limits on campaign donations and

spending. But the rules are riddled with loopholes, and they impose no

limits on political committees formed to advocate for or against ballot

initiatives like the income tax proposal.

Opponents of the graduated income tax formed at least five different

campaign committees that raised nearly $63 million altogether. The best

funded, by far, was the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike

Amendment, which collected almost $60 million, including the $54 million

from Griffin. The coalition received most of its remaining money from

other billionaires and millionaires, according to state campaign

donation records.

On the other side, Pritzker created the Vote Yes for Fairness

committee, plowing $58 million of his own fortune to support the “fair

tax” campaign. Apart from Pritzker’s donations, the committee received

just one $250 contribution, records show.

Griffin also launched other offensives. In October 2020, the Chicago Tribune <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-graduated-income-tax-ken-griffin-20201023-6qz46t3z5rbpdmgqaxwzd4xsya-story.html" class="rm-stats-tracked">reported</a> that Griffin had lambasted Pritzker as “a shameless master of personal tax avoidance” in an email to Citadel’s Chicago staff.

The bulk of Pritzker’s wealth ($3.6 billion, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jb-pritzker/?sh=686d441c3814" class="rm-stats-tracked">Forbes</a>) is in trusts, some domestic and some <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-met-jb-pritzker-offshore-finances-20181010-story.html" class="rm-stats-tracked">located offshore</a>. Pritzker has said some were set up by his grandfather. As ProPublica <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-great-inheritors-how-three-families-shielded-their-fortunes-from-taxes-for-generations" class="rm-stats-tracked">reported last year</a>,

it was common for 20th century patriarchs to set up trusts that passed

fortunes down through the generations free of estate taxes.

Pritzker has released <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22080184-pritzker-tax-returns-202022" class="rm-stats-tracked">his personal tax returns</a>,

but has not provided detailed information about the trusts. For 2020,

Pritzker’s office released returns showing $5.1 million in personal

income for the governor and his wife, MK. The domestic trusts benefiting

the governor also paid $16.3 million in Illinois taxes and $69.6

million in federal taxes in 2020, according to Pritzker spokesperson

Natalie Edelstein.

ProPublica’s IRS data does not shed light on those trusts. When

ProPublica requested further detail, Edelstein said the governor is not

releasing documents concerning the trusts because he “is not the only

beneficiary, so he does not have authority to release all of the

information.” She said that the governor had not personally accepted any

disbursements from the offshore trusts, instead giving them to charity.

She did not address whether the trusts had been set up to avoid estate

taxes, only saying they were “established generations ago.”

At the height of the graduated income tax campaign, advertisements for

and against the initiative seemed to be everywhere in Illinois — in

mailboxes, online, all over the airwaves.

“You couldn’t even watch TV — it was just one ad after another,”

recalled David Merriman, a public administration professor at the

University of Illinois Chicago.

Merriman’s research had found that Illinois received less revenue from

income taxes and placed a higher tax burden on low-income taxpayers

than neighboring states with graduated systems, including states led by

Republicans. But, perhaps predictably, the ads largely avoided policy

discussions in favor of political appeals.

“At the worst possible time, Springfield politicians are pushing a

constitutional amendment that would give them new powers to make it

easier to raise taxes on all Illinois taxpayers,” a narrator in one

anti-tax ad declared. “And if there’s one thing we know about

Springfield politicians, it’s that you can’t trust them.”

The fair-tax campaign accused the rich of trying to fool middle-class

families and claimed, based on the state Senate bill that had already

passed, that as many as 97% of taxpayers would pay the same or less

under the governor’s plan.

But voters weren’t convinced. Federal investigations of several

Chicago and state politicians were making headlines, and Merriman said

the graduated tax advocates failed to persuade voters that they would

benefit from the amendment. The initiative failed by a vote of 53% to

47%.

“It showed just how distrustful everyone is of the government,” he said.

The big money battle has continued in the Illinois governor’s race

this year. This January, Pritzker deposited $90 million into his own

reelection fund — the largest single political contribution in Illinois

in decades and probably ever. Under state election law, candidates can

lift donation limits in a race by funding their own campaigns.

Several of the anti-tax funders contributed large sums to Republicans

aiming to unseat Pritzker this fall. Once again, Griffin led the way,

spending $50 million, but his handpicked candidate lost the GOP primary

last week to Darren Bailey, a right-wing state senator propelled by more

than $17 million Uihlein gave to his campaign and an aligned super PAC.

Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association also went

head-to-head with Griffin, paying for ads attacking his candidate,

Richard Irvin.

Bailey received an endorsement from Donald Trump the weekend before

the election and finished with about 58% of the vote. Irvin faded to

third place with 15%. In his election night victory speech, Bailey

ripped Pritzker as an “out-of-touch, elitist billionaire.”

“Do you feel overtaxed?” Bailey called out to his supporters. Their response: “Yeah!”

By then, Griffin had made a big announcement that meant his state tax bill would plummet.

In a letter to Citadel employees, Griffin announced that he was moving

the company’s headquarters to Miami and that he himself had already

moved his family to the area.

Florida does not have a personal income tax. Experts told ProPublica

Griffin will still pay some personal income tax in New York and Illinois

since Citadel has offices there. But his bill is sure to shrink

dramatically, likely saving him tens of millions a year.

In response to ProPublica’s questions, Citadel did not address whether

taxes motivated his move. Instead, in its statement the spokesperson

cited crime concerns as the prime motivator: “Ken left Illinois for a

simple reason: the state is devolving into anarchy. Senseless violence

is now part of daily life in Chicago.”

Griffin’s letter to Citadel staff also made no mention of taxes as

being a reason for the move. Instead, it rhapsodized about how Miami

“embodies the American Dream — embracing the possibilities of what can

be achieved by a community working to build a future together.”

</div><div>=</div>
<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/from-bitcoin-mining-to-atms-illinois-is-positioning-itself-as-a-center-for-the-booming-cryptocurrency-industry/">https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/from-bitcoin-mining-to-atms-illinois-is-positioning-itself-as-a-center-for-the-booming-cryptocurrency-industry/</a><div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/illinois-supreme-court/">https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/illinois-supreme-court/</a></div><div>kos no maps</div><div>
</div><div>Five years ago, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled 4-3 along party lines to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/8/30/1551530/-Illinois-Supreme-Court-blocks-redistricting-reform-initiative-Here-s-why-that-s-good-for-democracy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">block a Republican-backed effort</a> to

place a redistricting initiative on the ballot that would have,

counterintuitively, undermined the cause of fair representation in the

Prairie State. But little-noticed elections taking place next year could

hand Republicans a majority on the court for the first time in decades

that would allow them to greenlight a similar effort. Such a move would

open the door to distorted maps under the guise of promoting

fairness—and could even allow Republicans to seize control of the

legislature despite the state's deep blue lean.Illinois <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/11/5/1992656/-The-2020-elections-were-a-disaster-for-a-decade-of-redistricting-further-securing-GOP-minority-rule" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">is one of just a handful of states</a> where

Democrats will have full control over the redistricting process

following the 2020 census, just as they did a decade earlier. However,

thanks in large part to a decades-long history of <a href="https://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/August-2017/How-Redlining-Segregated-Chicago-and-America/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">racist redlining and white flight segregation in Chicago</a> that has left voters of color heavily concentrated in urban areas, Democrats <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/30/1551530/-Illinois-Supreme-Court-blocks-redistricting-reform-initiative-Here-s-why-that-s-good-for-democracy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">face a "geography penalty"</a> that would leave them at a disadvantage even if the state utilized ostensibly nonpartisan maps.There's

no question that the districts Democrats drew 10 years ago were

gerrymandered—lawmakers didn't try to hide their intent. But because of

this geography bias, these gerrymanders did not in fact lock in a

Democratic advantage in excess of the party's popular support.One

simple way to test this is to compare the political performance of the

median district with that of the state as a whole; in Illinois, <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ug0ImtnXxAot4tvIfzO9EuYKk5XJB9qtjRz8DfcY63M/edit#gid=1639480230" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the median in the state House</a> was three points to the right of

the state overall in 2016, while for the Senate it was identical and

for Congress, it was just one point to the left. (In neighboring

Wisconsin, by contrast, the median districts in GOP-drawn maps were nine

to 12 points redder than the state.)Partisan

gerrymandering is by no means the only way to counteract a geography

penalty. An independent commission could, in particular, be instructed

to consider the fairness of partisan outcomes when drawing new maps. But

if Republicans take control of the Illinois Supreme Court, they could

let conservative activists deploy a ballot initiative that omits such a

requirement and even exacerbates the GOP's geography advantage by

prioritizing "compact" districts.Such

an effort could even lock in minority rule in Illinois. Democrats,

however, have the opportunity to prevent this scenario by reforming the

way state Supreme Court justices are elected, ensuring greater fairness

for both the court itself and, by extension, the redistricting process

overall.Illinois

is one of just four states, along with Kentucky, Louisiana, and

Mississippi, that elects Supreme Court justices by districts rather than

statewide. Unlike with legislative districts, however, <a href="https://twitter.com/sbagen/status/1154553428770787334?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">federal courts do not require</a> judicial districts to have equal population—the thinking being that judges aren't representative officials.That

doesn't mean they're fair, though, particularly since Illinois'

districts haven't been redrawn for over half a century. As a result,

they've become so badly disproportional that the largest of the

single-member districts, the 2nd, is home to more people than the two

smallest—the 4th and 5th—combined, as shown in the map below (<a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/948353/original/IllinoisStateSupremeCourtdistrictsby2014-2020statewideelectionresultswithmap.png?1621453106" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">see here for a larger version</a>).

Unsurprisingly, this distortion has benefited more rural areas in the

southern part of the state at the expense of voters in the

Democratic-leaning Chicago suburbs.[map]thanks

to this district-level distortion, Republicans could take control of

the Supreme Court in next year's elections, even though Illinois is a

solidly blue state that voted 57-40 for Joe Biden last year. Four seats

on the court are up in 2022, and both the 2nd and 3rd Districts could

host competitive elections. (Incumbent justices—<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/3/1/2014977/-Supreme-court-races-in-these-10-states-are-key-to-protecting-fair-elections-and-halting-gerrymanders" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">one Democrat and one Republican</a>—should be heavily favored in the 1st and 4th Districts, respectively.)This

means that if a recently appointed Republican justice holds his seat in

the 2nd, and if the GOP can flip a Democratic open seat in the 3rd,

they'll transform the court's current 4-3 Democratic majority into a 4-3

Republican advantage. And that advantage would last for a full decade,

because justice serve 10-year terms, and the only other Republican isn't

up for reelection until 2030 and holds a solidly red seat anyway.Normally

those elections are what's known as "retention" elections—that is,

voters simply say whether they want to keep an incumbent in office, yea

or nay. To keep their job, a judge must earn 60% of the vote, though

that's always been a foregone conclusion.That

was, until last year, when Democratic Justice Thomas Kilbride in the

conservative-leaning (and underpopulated) 3rd District <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/kilbride-is-first-illinois-supreme-court-justice-to-lose-retention-vote/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">failed to win the supermajority he needed </a>to earn another term. That made Kilbride <a href="https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20201104/news/201109676" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the first Supreme Court justice</a> since retention elections were adopted in 1964 to lose such an election.It also set up a traditional partisan election next year in his district, which <a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/916133/original/IllinoisStateSupremeCourtdistrictsby2014-2020statewideelectionresultswithmap.png?1612987894" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">voted for Donald Trump 51-47</a>.

Kilbride's replacement, Democratic Justice Robert Carter, isn't seeking

a full term, creating an open seat that Republicans have a strong

chance to pick up. Meanwhile, the neighboring 2nd District, which backed

Joe Biden by 55-43, will also hold a partisan election because

appointed Republican Justice Michael Burke is seeking his first full

term. If next year resembles a traditional midterm that disfavors the

party in control of the White House, Burke could win despite the

district's lean.Together,

these two districts will determine who controls the court, and if

Republicans take a majority, they could authorize the very sort of

ballot initiative the court rejected in 2016—one that could penalize

Democrats and voters of color based solely on where they live, due to a

legacy of racism of which they're the victims.Some

top Republicans appear to already be taking notice of how high the

stakes are. Politico recently reported that GOP Rep. Darin LaHood <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2021/05/13/davis-lahood-missed-the-vote-lightfoot-hire-ed-counting-on-the-council-492838" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">could be interested in running</a> for

the critical 3rd District next year, which would given his party a much

more prominent candidate than judicial races typically attract. (In an

ironic twist, Democrats themselves could wind up giving LaHood more

motivation to run if they try to make his congressional district bluer

or combine him with another Republican.)Should

Republicans get their way and succeed in revamping the redistricting

process, it's easy to illustrate just how damaging districts that

prioritize compactness and other nonpartisan criteria while ignoring

fairness could be. The map below (<a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/948295/original/Illinois.png?1621446846" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">see here for a larger version</a>) is a hypothetical example of just such an approach.[map]while

these seemingly "clean" lines might look pleasing to the naked eye, the

patterns they hold are troubling. Daily Kos Elections has <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M85xu2_KdXf7F_ftcUJZwCLtK_QsADuVRA6p5l-HyUU/edit#gid=2058537850" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">calculated key demographic and election result statistics</a> for

these districts, which show that during the prior decade, no fewer than

four different Democratic candidates for statewide office won their

races but lost a majority of districts under this map—an outcome

directly at odds with the fundamental notion in a two-party system that

the party that wins the most votes should also win the most seats.Sen.

Dick Durbin's successful reelection in 2014 best showcases this

distortion: Despite his wide 54-43 margin, he would have carried only

eight districts while his Republican opponent would have won 10. In

fact, Durbin would have lost the median district in this scenario 50-46,

putting it almost 15 points to the right of his statewide win.With

a headwind like that, Democratic candidates for the House would have

been hard-pressed, and Republicans could have wound up controlling a

majority of the delegation. The same thing would be eminently possible

under a future map like this one (albeit with 17 districts, since

Illinois is losing one seat due to reapportionment), and not just for

Congress but for the legislature as well.But

Democratic lawmakers can go a long way toward ensuring fairer

congressional and legislative maps if they simply redraw the

long-neglected judicial map—something they are entirely empowered to do.

And there's no need to gerrymander the lines: A nonpartisan approach

that simply equalizes populations across districts would improve matters

greatly.The map below (<a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/948350/original/IllinoisStateSupremeCourtNonpartisanMapandDataSummaryWholeCookCounty.png?1621452732" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">see here for a larger version</a>)

features one such proposal. It converts the 3rd District from a

hodgepodge of disparate communities that sprawls across the state into a

more cohesive district concentrated in the Chicago suburbs. Not only

would its population be far closer to the ideal, this revised district

would have favored Biden <a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/916134/original/IllinoisStateSupremeCourtNonpartisanMapandDataSummaryWholeCookCounty.png?1612987917" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">by a 54-44 margin</a> rather than backing Trump.[map]this

new 3rd District would reduce the chance that Republicans could gain a

majority on the bench, but even this map would still give the GOP a

large advantage when looking at the median seat—just not as gargantuan

as under the current disproportional map. For instance, in the 2014

Senate election, which Democrat Dick Durbin won 53-43, Republicans would

nonetheless have won a majority of Supreme Court seats.Consequently,

more extensive long-term solutions are needed that go beyond merely

redrawing these court districts. The wisest move would be to end

judicial elections entirely in favor of a more merit-based appointment

method <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_selection_in_the_states" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">like those that other states have created</a> to

insulate judges from the pressures of partisan politics. That, however,

would require a constitutional amendment that involves a three-fifths

vote in both legislative chambers followed by a statewide referendum,

whereas simply redrawing the districts to equalize their populations

would go through the ordinary legislative process.By

the same token, Illinois Democrats could also put in place an

independent redistricting commission with a mandate to produce

congressional and legislative maps that ensure fair outcomes from a

partisan perspective, short-circuiting any conservative attempt to pass a

reform-in-name-only at the ballot box. The political hurdles to

implement such an overhaul would be immense, however. Drafting a new

judicial map would be far easier—but the window to do so won't remain

open for long.<div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/trump-sabotage/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">The evidence of Trump's final act of 'sabotage' - Alternet.org ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/trump-immigration/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">US Supreme Court rejects Texas-led lawsuit seeking to protect a ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/supreme-court-penality/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">The long, cruel shadow of a 45-year-old Supreme Court death ... ›</a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 10px;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-illinois-pension-law-court-ruling-20150508-story.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Illinois Supreme Court rules landmark pension law unconstitutional ... ›</a></li></ul></div></div><div>=</div>=oops<div>subpoena power </div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2020/10/pa-republicans-trying-hijack-election">https://crooksandliars.com/2020/10/pa-republicans-trying-hijack-election</a></div><div>
</div><div>... the video. That's state rep Malcolm Kenyatta, who's trying to stop Pennsylvania's Republican legislators from <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/house-gop-pushes-ahead-plan-election-integrity-panel-20200930.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-color: rgb(44, 73, 113);">stealing our election.</a><div class="post-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.75rem;">"No

one is getting Malcolm under control. Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is trying

to stop what's happening in Pennsylvania. The Democrats and legislators

there are trying to stop it," Rachel Maddow said."This

is going to end up being a story of serious national significance. They

are trying at this late date to create a brand new Select Election

Integrity Committee that they're giving subpoena power to investigate

the 2020 election in the middle of the 2020 election. You heard Rep.

Malcolm Kenyatta there. This fight is getting hotter."Maddow

said, "I don't know if we are seeing in any other state a last-minute

move by a Republican-controlled legislature to try to institute a new

body to control the vote and to potentially affect the way the

presidential election is conducted. Is this something you guys knew was

coming or was it as much of a surprise to you as to those of us outside

the state?"Kenyatta said they usually get 24 hours notice before a committee hearing of any bills that are coming up."They

put it in our inboxes, I think right before the presidential debate and

for months now, Rachel, they have been trying to throw sand into the

gears of our democracy. And now they're sanding out this election

integrity committee that as I said, has no integrity to investigate the

sand. They have parroted all of President Trump's fever dreams around

voter fraud. But here's the reality. The only fraud I see is Donald

Trump, he lies to the American people and cheats on his taxes and now he

is trying to steal an election," he said."Unfortunately,

Republicans in Harrisburg and across the country are more than happy to

help him destroy our democracy. They have decided they're not going to

contest this election on policy or on the progress we need to see on

climate change and healthcare and this covid-19 pandemic. They're not

going to have the election on those terms.<div class="clab clab-type-post_inline" data-clab-id="7" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">"They are doing everything they can to take away the power of our vote here in Pennsylvania to maintain their power."PA

Republicans are just horrible. We used to have at least some semi-sane

ones, but a few years ago, the Freedom Caucus types took over and I

don't think they've done a productive thing since.</div></div>in<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=b1400b4e82&e=06876ede6b" style="text-decoration-line: none;">side Clean Energy: Illinois Faces (Another) Nuclear Power Standoff</a> BY: DAN GEARINO
Exelon wants a subsidy to keep two nuclear plants running, reigniting a longstanding—and acrimonious—debate. <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=cafe2933ff&e=06876ede6b" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Read More</a><div></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/illinois-governor-chartering-flights-from-china-in-a-herculean-effort-to-prevent-trump-from-snatching-millions-of-masks-and-gloves-report/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/illinois-governor-chartering-flights-from-china-in-a-herculean-effort-to-prevent-trump-from-snatching-millions-of-masks-and-gloves-report/</a></div><div><div>===</div><div><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072020/ohio-illinois-bribery-scandals-utilities-climate-change-commonwealth-edison-firstenergy-householder">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072020/ohio-illinois-bribery-scandals-utilities-climate-change-commonwealth-edison-firstenergy-householder</a></div><div>
</div><div>25th?</div><div>
</div><div><div class="content" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit;">cOLUMBUS,

Ohio—Among other things, the king-size bribery scandals in Illinois and

Ohio dominating the headlines lately are a vivid illustration of how

utilities routinely exert financial and political power to shield

themselves from the risks of doing business, often at the expense of

consumers.The

dynamic is so pervasive that some analysts and advocates say they

thought they had lost the ability to be shocked by it—until the

revelations of the last 10 days."I

was gobsmacked," said Ned Hill, an Ohio State University economist who

had testified against the legislation now at the center of the bribery

probe. The behavior described in legal documents, he said, looks "like

the outtakes from The Godfather."Hill

and other close observers of the legislative process say utilities have

too much political power and operate in a campaign finance system that

makes it too easy for them to get what they want, and that often leads

to unfair competition.on

July 17, federal prosecutors in Illinois announced that the utility

Commonwealth Edison had allegedly provided jobs and favors to people

associated with the Illinois House speaker, in exchange for legislation

that included a bailout of nuclear power plants. Four days later,

federal prosecutors in Ohio made a more startling announcement in an

unrelated but similar case, charging the Ohio House speaker, Republican

Larry Householder, and four other people, with taking more than $60

million from the utility FirstEnergy in exchange for passing a nuclear

bailout. The

utilities' unrestrained influence also has implications for climate

change and the environment, although those factors differ widely in the

Illinois and Ohio cases because of differences in the bills passed in

each state. But environmental advocates say both the Illinois and Ohio

examples are alarming because they show a system in which all concerns

take a back seat to profits of utilities."When companies like ComEd

and FirstEnergy have billions of dollars at stake, spending tens of

millions of dollars on campaign contributions, bribes and other

activities is sort of a down payment, and that's sad," said Howard Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago.The

Illinois and Ohio scandals touch on hotly contested policy debates

about the transition to renewable energy and whether nuclear power,

which is carbon-free, is so important to that transition that it needs

to be subsidized.But

David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute,

a watchdog group that investigates corruption by utilities, said such

debates are largely beside the point.The core problem, he said, is something much simpler: Utilities have shown a pattern of trying "to

spend money to influence policy in ways that, above all, protect or

strengthen their monopolies and grow their profits, agnostic of the

climate impacts."Pomerantz

said he thinks that reducing the political power of utilities will be

good for renewable energy and the climate in the long run, because

renewable energy has public support and is competitive on the market."If

we get the corrupting influence of utility money out of politics, I'll

very happily take my chances with honest policy debates that engage the

public, which broadly supports the rapid transition from fossil fuels to

clean energy," he said.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333;">For Utilities, the Best of Both Worlds</h3>The

Illinois and Ohio scandals are tied to the ways utility companies have

responded to the competition brought on by electricity deregulation.

Both states are among the 15 or so that implemented deregulation laws in

the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to systems today in which power

plants must compete on an open market. At

one time, nuclear and coal-fired power plants were strong competitors

on that market, but now they are struggling because of the low costs to

operate plants that run on natural gas, along with the plunging costs of

wind and solar power.Rather than close plants that are not profitable or barely profitable, plant owners have chosen to seek government subsidies.Illinois passed the <a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/future-energy-jobs-act/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Future Energy Jobs Act</a> in 2016, one of the measures cited in the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/press-release/file/1295241/download" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">U.S. attorney's recent filing</a> as

being tainted by corruption. The law provided subsidies for two nuclear

power plants and included a major expansion of the state's support for

renewable energy and energy efficiency. The nuclear plants are owned by

Exelon, which is ComEd's parent company.The

law's supporters argued that the plants were a vital source of

carbon-free power and that they were important for jobs and the economy.<a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41534" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Other states</a> have

enacted their own laws or regulatory actions in recent years that

include nuclear subsidies as part of a package or a larger agenda that

also expanded use of renewable energy. They include Connecticut, New

Jersey and New York.In Ohio, it was a different story, with elected officials hostile to renewable energy. <a href="https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA133-HB-6" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">House Bill 6</a>,

passed in 2019, gave more than a billion dollars to two nuclear power

plants owned by a company with ties to FirstEnergy. It also provided

subsidies for two coal-fired power plants owned by Ohio Valley Electric

Corp., and canceled the requirements of a 2008 law that had required

utilities to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.Environmental

groups that had supported the 2016 Illinois law opposed the 2019 one in

Ohio. But the laws are alike in that they started as nuclear bailouts

and then sponsors added whatever provisions they needed to get them

passed.Both

laws subvert the market, which is unfair to competing owners of power

plants, said Michael Haugh, an energy policy consultant who has done

work for the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, the state's utility

consumer advocate, and for the R Street Institute, a think tank that

advocates for open markets and limited government.The

result is that utilities have a system in which they can earn

substantial profits in situations where they are well-equipped to

compete, and can get government protection to guarantee profits when

they are ill-equipped to compete."They found the way to walk the line in-between," Haugh said, which, he added, is "the best of both worlds" for the companies.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;">Favors and Inducements</h3><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/press-release/file/1295241/download" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Documents in the Illinois case</a> describe

years of favors and other inducements that ComEd provided to a "Public

Official A." Although the documents do not name the official, they refer

to the person as speaker of the Illinois House during the period of the

alleged crimes. That was Mike Madigan, a Democrat, who remains speaker.ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 million and cooperate with the investigation, while

Madigan has not been charged. A spokeswoman for Madigan said he "never

made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no

wrongdoing here."Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat, said at <a href="https://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/watch-now-pritzker-talks-about-criminal-case-against-comed-madigan/video_69def35f-ac1c-55ed-80fb-59eba8e9462b.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">a public appearance</a> last

week that he is "furious with what is being reported" and that Madigan

has a lot that he needs to answer for, to authorities and voters.The agreement between prosecutors and ComEd was the largest development so far in an investigation that Chicago media <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/news/feds-search-for-michael-madigan-records-at-home-of-retired-alderman-sources-say/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">have been reporting</a> on since last summer, based on reports of authorities raiding officials' homes and offices.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333;">Threats and Payoffs</h3>In

contrast to the slow burn of the Illinois probe, the one in Ohio

remained a secret until authorities made arrests in the early hours of

July 21.The

Ohio arrests included not only Householder, the speaker of the House,

but also four of his associates who were part of what prosecutors said

was the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history.The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/07/read-the-complaint-against-ohio-house-speaker-larry-householder-aide-lobbyists-charged-with-racketeering-conspiracy.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">an affidavit</a> with

much more detail than the documents in Illinois, describing how

"Company A" provided nearly all of more than $60 million that went to a

dark money group controlled by Householder, which he then used to help

the company, help his political career, and cover a variety of personal

expenses. Company A is FirstEnergy.The

affidavit tells the story of a plan that took years to unfold, starting

in 2016 when a FirstEnergy subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solutions, said that

its two Ohio nuclear plants were losing money and would need to close

unless they got help from the government.That

same year, Householder was planning a return to the Ohio House, running

for a seat in the body where he had served from 1997 to 2004, including

a previous stint as speaker.Householder

narrowly won election by his colleagues as House speaker in 2019 and

soon released the first draft of a nuclear bailout measure that he said

was a high priority.He

rammed the bill through in the House and Senate, using threats and

promises to cajole his colleagues to support the measure and over the

objections of a broad range of business and environmental groups. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed the bill. But

the fight didn't end when the bill became law. Opponents of the bill

announced that they would gather signatures for a referendum to give

voters a chance to repeal the law. The dark money group and affiliated

groups responded with an aggressive campaign to prevent the opponents

from getting the signatures they needed.This

included buying up contracts of national signature gathering firms,

essentially paying them to not work in Ohio. It meant getting contact

information for individual signature gatherers and sending them text

messages offering $2,500 and a plane ticket to quit their jobs. It also

meant hiring "blockers," paid operatives who followed

signature-gatherers and tried to persuade the public not to sign.Meanwhile,

Householder's allies wanted inside information from the referendum

campaign, so they paid $15,000 to get an employee of the campaign to

divulge secrets, and threatened to burn his house down if he revealed

the existence of the payoff. The threat was phrased as if it were a

joke, but the threat was clear, the employee told prosecutors.The

push for a ballot measure ended in failure, with organizers saying they

were unable to get enough signatures because of all the dirty tricks. While

many of the details in the affidavit were shocking—like Householder

using money from the dark money group to pay for repairs to his second

home in Florida—it was well-known that Householder was extremely close

to FirstEnergy. For example, Ohio media <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190728/firstenergy-handed-out-1-million-in-campaign-cash-before-nuclear-bailout-vote" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">had reported</a> that the company had hosted Householder and his son on the company's jet to attend President Donald Trump's inauguration."It

was no secret that this was the quid pro quo for FirstEnergy helping

Householder get the speakership," said Janine Migden-Ostrander, a

principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project who was head of the

Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel from 2004 to 2011.What

was a secret was that Householder controlled the dark money groups and

the extent to which FirstEnergy was financing the groups, she said.DeWine said on Thursday that the law should be repealed and replaced in light of the evidence of corruption.Meanwhile, FirstEnergy has said it did nothing wrong."This

is a serious and disturbing situation," said Chuck Jones, FirstEnergy's

CEO, in a conference call with analysts on Friday. "Ethical behavior

and upholding the highest standards of conduct are foundational values

for the entire FirstEnergy family and me personally."The

company has said little about the specifics of the allegations.

Householder has not commented on the charges since his arrest and his

office did not respond to a request for comment.Both the Illinois and Ohio investigations are ongoing. <h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;">A Wake-Up Call? </h3>Analysts

and advocates are hopeful that the scandals will serve as a wakeup call

for the public about the deep flaws in the ways utilities influence the

political system.Hill,

the Ohio State economist, said he hopes the scandals lead to fair

competition and lower costs for consumers. He is wary of the possibility

that environmental groups may respond by saying that Ohio should

provide large subsidies for renewable energy, which he thinks would be

taking the wrong lesson from what has happened."Green energy wins in competitive markets," he said, citing the low prices of wind and solar power.Another

part of learning from the scandals is to recognize that some of the

harmful activity is legal and shouldn't be, like utilities' ability to

influence policy through untraceable donations to dark money groups,

said Pomerantz of the Energy and Policy Institute."The line between what is legal corruption and illegal corruption in this country is incredibly fuzzy and porous," he said.</div></div></div></div><div class="tagged-with" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><label style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; line-height: 1.2;">PUBLISHED UNDER:</label><div class="field field-name-field-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topics/clean-energy" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">CLEAN ENERGY</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/ohio" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">OHIO</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/illinois" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">ILLINOIS</a></div> <div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/bribery" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">BRIBERY</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/scandal" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">SCANDAL</a></div> <div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/climate-change" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">CLIMATE CHANGE</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/householder" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">HOUSEHOLDER</a></div> <div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/commonwealth-edison" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">COMMONWEALTH EDISON</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/firstenergy" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">FIRSTENERGY</a></div></div></div></div></div><div>==</div></div>-----I<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=f2e19671b3&e=06876ede6b" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">llinois Is Poised to Crack Down on Hazardous Coal Ash Waste to Protect Health and Rivers</a> BY: NINA PULLANO Lawmakers

targeted coal ash after testing showed Illinois was the No. 1 state for

the most coal-fired power plants leaching unsafe levels of contaminants

like arsenic into the groundwater.
Illinois

is poised to become the latest state to crack down on power plants'

coal ash waste, a hazardous byproduct of coal burning and source of

groundwater contamination.The

state has more coal ash ponds leaching unsafe levels of contaminants

into groundwater than any other state in the nation, a recent <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IL-CoalAsh_Report.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">analysis</a> of federally mandated water testing showed. That pollution can pose <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/coal-ash-man_COMPLETE_2017-07-20_light.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">health risks</a> for

humans: Coal ash can contain chemicals and heavy metals, including

arsenic, mercury and lead, that have been linked to cancer, heart

disease, reproductive issues and brain damage in children.Lawmakers passed <a href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=9&GAID=15&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=113581&SessionID=108&GA=101" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">legislation</a> this week that, once signed by new Democratic <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Gov. </a><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">J.B. </a><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Pritzker</a>,

would amend the Illinois Environmental Protection Act to set stricter

requirements for coal ash cleanup and to mandate public comment periods

prior to closing coal ash sites. It also would give the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency funding to run cleanup programs through permit fees....==Illinois: Illinois’ delegation includes seven Dirty Air Villains: Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL6), Joe

Walsh (R-IL8) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL11) (each of whose districts overlap with the 18th

dirtiest MSA in the US for soot pollution) and Randall Hultgren (R-IL14), Donald Manzullo (RIL16),

Robert Schilling (R-IL17) and John Shimkus (R-IL19). Illinois also has five Clean Air

Heroes: Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL4), Michael Quigley D-

(IL5), Bobby Rush (D-IL1) and Janice Schakowsky (D-IL9).

==The Clean Energy Jobs Act that was introduced Thursday would move Illinois to 100 percent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/renewable-energy" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">renewable energy</a> by 2050 and make the state a national leader in clean energy and climate action.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Clean Energy</h2>The bill (<a href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2132&GAID=15&GA=101&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=120304&SessionID=108" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">SB2132</a>) would rapidly ramp up renewable energy in Illinois towards

the 100 percent target by 2050, starting with a target of generating 45

percent of our electricity from renewable sources — and none from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">fossil fuels</a> —

by 2030. That rapid expansion of clean energy would place Illinois at

the forefront of job growth, investments, customer savings and health

benefits from renewable energy.The bill would also grow the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/samuel-garcia/state-states-community-solar-midwest" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Illinois Solar for All Program</a> by as much as 500 percent,

expand cost-saving energy efficiency programs, and help us plan our

electric grid in ways that avoid unnecessary costs and take advantage

of <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/starla-yeh/benchmarking-report-2018-clean-energy-continues-apace" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">increasingly cheap renewable energy</a>.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Clean Transportation</h2>Putting

more renewables on the electric grid also makes it easier to clean up

our transportation sector, which is now the largest source of carbon

pollution in Illinois. Although electric vehicles already pollute less than gasoline-powered vehicles, as the electricity we use <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/luke-tonachel/study-electric-vehicles-can-dramatically-reduce-carbon-pollution" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">to charge</a> those vehicles gets cleaner, we can reduce pollution even more. At the same time, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pamela-macdougall/evs-can-do-more-just-drive-they-can-help-grid-too" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">electric vehicles </a>paired

with smart charging technologies can help our electric grid run more

efficiently. The Clean Energy Jobs Act aims to take advantage of these

opportunities while removing the equivalent of one million

gasoline-powered vehicles off the road.New

incentives and infrastructure to support electric vehicles would help

spur this process, including support for "light duty" electric vehicles

like cars and trucks, which can <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/noah-garcia/illinois-sees-widespread-benefits-electrifying-vehicles" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">save drivers money</a> and

create 70 percent less pollution than similar gas-powered vehicles. It

would also include incentives to transition towards electric medium- and

heavy-duty vehicles, which is critical in part because many of today's

heavy-duty vehicles <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/clean-cargo-toolkit.pdf" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">run on diesel</a> and

cause serious health problems for people in communities with heavy

truck traffic. The bill also pairs electric vehicle incentives with

smart charging programs to ensure that electric vehicles can charge at

"off-peak" hours (such as late at night) when electricity is relatively

cheap, plentiful and clean. Finally: in addition to expanding electric

vehicles, Illinois should expand non-motorized transportation options

like walking, biking and mass transit, which could be included in a

capital bill.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jobs and Equity</h2>The transition to a clean energy economy promises benefits to our health (<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/health-benefits-illinois-future-energy-jobs-act" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">as we saw in 2016</a>), our climate and our pocketbooks. It also creates jobs: Illinois is already home to nearly 120,000 <a href="https://www.cleanjobsmidwest.com/state/illinois" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">clean energy jobs</a>. Statewide, about one in every 50 workers is in the clean energy sector. In rural Illinois, clean energy already employs <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/arjun-krishnaswami/new-report-clean-energy-sweeps-across-rural-midwest" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">twice as many people</a> as

fossil fuels, and those jobs are growing at 5 percent a year even as

the total number of jobs in rural areas has declined. The massive

expansion of renewable energy envisioned in this bill would grow those

impressive numbers even further.But

the benefits of our energy transition must be equitably distributed,

and the jobs it creates must be good-paying and accessible. The

transition must prioritize economic opportunity for people of color,

people who live in <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-is-environmental-justice" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">environmental justice</a> communities, and workers impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels.The

Clean Energy Jobs Act centers these priorities through Clean Energy

Empowerment Zones, which allocate economic development resources to

communities impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels, and the

creation of Clean Jobs Workforce Hubs. These hubs are workforce

development pipelines that begin with recruitment conducted in

partnership with community groups, unions and others, and which

prioritize recruiting people of color, people from marginalized

communities, and displaced fossil fuel workers. They include training

programs with stipends to help trainees meet living expenses,

transportation, child care, and other needs while they develop their

skills. Renewable energy developers will be incentivized to hire diverse

workers, including graduates of these training programs.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What's Next for the Clean Energy Jobs Act</h2>The

Clean Energy Jobs Act was developed with the input of people all over

Illinois, in nearly 70 public discussions across rural, urban and

suburban communities, from Chicago to Carbondale, with participants of

all ages and racial backgrounds.With a <a href="https://twitter.com/JBPritzker/status/971796579647721474" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">newly-elected governor</a> who supports 100 percent renewable energy, recent national polls showing that 85 percent of registered <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/energy-in-the-american-mind-december-2018/2/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">voters want</a> to

move their states entirely to renewable energy by 2050, and the

ambitious Clean Energy Jobs Act gathering sponsors in the legislature,

Illinois is poised to be a model for clean energy leadership — not just

in the Midwest, but in the world.Beyond

the numbers and the policy details, that would mean cleaner air and

water, more jobs, healthier people and a livable world for our kids.<div class="around-the-web"><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 20px;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/illinois" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Illinois ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy-midwest-2197961674.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">3 Midwestern States That Refuse to Abandon the Renewable ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.edf.org/media/ambitious-plan-solidifies-illinois-renewable-energy-leader" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Ambitious Plan Solidifies Illinois as Renewable Energy Leader ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.illinoisrenew.org/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Illinois Renewable Energy Association ›</a></li></ul><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div> =<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits</a>Climate

change poses risks to the economy and identity of a Great Lakes

landscape, much of it defined by bountiful farms, pine forests and clear

waters. But political leaders haven't always treated it that way.That's

starting to change as a wave of new governors and attorneys general

take office across the region with promises—and actions—to address

climate change.The

regional changes may signal a new dynamic for national debates, as

climate policy advocates broaden their base of support to include some

of the country's hubs of manufacturing and <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24102018/farm-bureau-climate-change-denial-farmers-crop-insurance-subsidies-drought-future-at-risk" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">farming</a>.

It also is happening at a time of growing urgency for concerted

state-level efforts on climate change in response to the federal

government's push to roll back greenhouse gas emissions rules."It's

really crucial in this time when there are so many environmental

policies going the wrong way to have more hands on deck," said Kim

Smaczniak, a staff attorney for Earthjustice.
This year, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin each switched from a Republican governor to a Democrat. In both Michigan and Illinois, the governors have made moves on climate change issues in their first 10 days.Michigan and Wisconsin also have new Democratic attorneys general replacing Republicans. The

upshot from the 2018 election is that Democrats now hold both the

governor's and attorney general's office in six of the eight states that

border the Great Lakes.<div class="media media-element-container media-image_centered_medium" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 648px; margin: 0.25em auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><figure id="file-272139" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="file file-image file-image-png" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">[map]</figure></div>Democratic

electoral waves have hit the Great Lakes region before and given hope

to environmental advocates, only to be undone by later political cycles. In

2007, a group of states and a Canadian province aimed to start a

cap-and-trade system for reducing carbon emissions. But their Midwest

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord ceased to function by about 2010 as

newly elected officials dropped their states' support for the plan.Today,

climate change is increasingly evident in the extreme weather, heat

waves and algae blooms that hurt agriculture, drinking water and

tourism, as the <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/21/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Midwest chapter</a> of the 2018 National Climate Assessment describes.Falling

prices for renewable power are also shifting the energy landscape.

While most utilities in the region still depend heavily on coal, many

are now exploring <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02012019/renewable-energy-tipping-point-midwest-2018-year-review-utilities-wind-solar-xcel-100-percent" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">expanding their use of clean energy</a> and

retiring coal-fired power plants early. There is potential for offshore

wind energy in the Great Lakes and advancements in onshore wind, solar

and energy storage. And the new governors are bringing different views

on the construction of fossil fuel pipelines."We

want it to be bipartisan. We want it to be pragmatic," said Tyler

Huebner, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a clean energy advocacy

group. "We want it to be everyone understanding the benefits so this

transition can continue unimpeded."<h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Michigan: Challenging a Pipeline – and Trump</h3>The new dynamic was on display on Jan. 2, when newly elected Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer started a legal fight against <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04102018/oil-pipeline-shut-down-enbridge-line-5-straits-mackinac-michigan-election-snyder" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Enbridge Line 5</a>, an aging fossil fuel pipeline that passes under the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac.She sent a <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/whitmer/Governor_Whitmer_Letter_to_AG_Nessel_re_2018_PA_359_642447_7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">letter</a> to

state Attorney General Dana Nessel seeking a legal opinion that could

help to undo a plan to replace the pipeline. Nessel is also brand new to

the job, and, like Whitmer, very different from her Republican

predecessor....<h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wisconsin: Changing the Tone After Walker</h3>At a <a href="http://www.wuwm.com/post/evers-says-its-important-wisconsin-moves-forward-renewable-energy#stream/0" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">renewable energy conference</a> last week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also spoke about the need to address climate change."We

shouldn't have to choose between investing in new industries and

protecting our natural resources like our land, rivers and waters,"

Evers said.His predecessor, Republican Scott Walker, was <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/28/dnr-purges-climate-change-on-web-page/95929564/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">criticized during his tenure</a> for ignoring climate change and for downplaying humans' role in causing it.Evers,

however, is limited in how much he can do. The Democrat faces a

legislature controlled by Republicans and the added constraint of a

widely derided <a href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/related/proposals/sb884" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">bill</a> Walker signed after losing reelection that <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/14/scott-walker-signs-lame-duck-legislation/2313111002/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">reduces the power of the governor's office</a> in several ways.<h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Illinois: Joining the U.S. Climate Alliance</h3>Illinois

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat, has replaced Republican Bruce

Rauner, who talked little about climate change and downplayed its

effects while also supporting expanding the oil and gas industry in the

state."There

was both the perception and the reality that (Walker and Rauner) were

moving their states backwards when it came to core environmental

policies and values that were broadly supported by people of the state,"

said Howard Learner, president and executive director of the

Environmental Law and Policy Center.In his <a href="https://www.sj-r.com/news/20190114/full-text-gov-jb-pritzkers-inaugural-address" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">inaugural address</a>, Pritzker made a point to say: "I believe in science."On Wednesday, Pritzker <a href="https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/news-item.aspx?ReleaseID=19626" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">officially signed</a> onto

the U.S. Climate Alliance, becoming the 18th governor to join the group

and commit the state to the principles of the Paris climate agreement.

His <a href="https://www2.illinois.gov/IISNews/19626-Executive_Order_2019-06.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">executive order</a> also

directed the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the

Trump administration's environmental proposals and identify ways to

protect Illinois residents from environmental harm."While

the president is intent on taking us backwards, I will work hard every

day to move our state forward," Pritzker said. "We know that climate

change is real. We know it's a threat. And we know we must act."...<div>=</div>=<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/politic-il-insider-additional-gang-databases-illinois-cook-county">https://www.propublica.org/article/politic-il-insider-additional-gang-databases-illinois-cook-county</a><div></div><div>
</div><div>ej org dynergy coal ash illinois</div><div>"With

the Trump and Rauner administrations rolling back enforcement of

national and state environmental laws, advocates are urging a federal

court to step in and order Dynegy to take more aggressive action.

Environmental groups fear that steady erosion of the riverbank could

trigger a catastrophic spill, similar to disasters at coal plants in <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tennessee-coal-ash-spill/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Tennessee</a> and <a href="http://www.greensboro.com/news/dan_river/dan-river-coal-ash-disaster-environmental-impact-could-take-years/article_fed5e6e8-0150-528d-a35e-c4355ba8aa88.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">North Carolina</a> where ash impoundments ruptured and caused millions of dollars in damage.'Dynegy left a toxic mess on the banks of one of Illinois' most beautiful <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rivers" style="text-decoration-line: none;">rivers</a> and

has done nothing to stop the dangerous, illegal pollution from fouling

waters enjoyed by countless families who kayak, tube, canoe and even

swim in the river,' said Jenny Cassel, an attorney with <a href="https://earthjustice.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Earthjustice</a>, one of the nonprofit groups behind a <a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4489003-Vermilion-Coal-Ash-Complaint.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lawsuit filed Wednesday</a> that accuses Dynegy of violating the federal Clean Water Act."</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-ash-river-illinois-2573918063.htm">https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-ash-river-illinois-2573918063.html</a></div><div>
</div><div></div>

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/jeffbiggers/climate-reckoning-my-own-private-coal-story">http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/jeffbiggers/climate-reckoning-my-own-private-coal-story</a>

...

In

that same time period, my kids—the 9th generation of our family to be

born in Illinois—and I have watched coal barges ease down the

Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in a  <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/05/03/climate-denying-gov-touts-record-coal-exports/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">fivefold</a> increase

in coal exports, en route to CO2-spewing coal-fired plants abroad. The

wake-up call: Illinois has experienced record drought and flooding, as

climate scientists determined our planet had reached the alarming 400

parts-per-million milestone of CO2 emissions for the first time in

millions of years.

Coal miners remain the canaries in the coal mine:  <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/217716-black-lung-makes-comeback-among-miners-study-says" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Black lung disease</a> among

coal miners, an issue dear to my heart and to anyone who has watched

their loved ones and friends suffer needlessly, is at record levels in

2014.

And

communities not far from my beloved Eagle Creek, including members of

my own displaced family, have once again found themselves on the front

lines of mining destruction. As part of an  <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/obama-war-on-coalmidtermsappalachiasenatepolitics.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">“all-of-the’above”</a> energy policy touted by President Barack Obama and Illinois <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/3/coal-mining-frackingrenewableenergyillinoisquinn.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Gov. Pat Quinn</a>—a <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/21/4169947/gov-quinn-picks-up-sierra-club.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Sierra Club-supported</a> Democrat

who once led anti-strip-mining campaigns and swept into office on

promises of regulatory reform—the heartland has undergone a series of

mind-boggling machinations in favor of coal mining and hydraulic <a href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/fracking-2/" style="text-decoration: none;">fracking</a>....

<div>hymn mixed news on frack:</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>

<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">SPRINGFIELD,

Ill. (AP) — Stricter requirements for disclosing the use of chemicals

are part of new proposed rules issued by the state Friday as part of the

process of regulating fracking, the high-volume oil and gas drilling

method that proponents hope will bring a surge of jobs to Illinois.

The

highly anticipated rules, released by the state Department of Natural

Resources, come after months of complaints about delays from industry

officials anxious to begin hydraulic fracturing in what they say are

southern Illinois' rich deposits of natural gas. The state was hailed

last year for legislation seen as a model of compromise on how to

regulate the drilling practice, but that cooperation broke down when

draft rules were criticized by both industry and environmental

activists.

State

officials expressed confidence that the new rules would address all the

concerns raised in 30,000 comments they received in response to those

initial rules. DNR director Marc Miller said his staff had done "a

thorough and thoughtful job" in crafting a balanced, 150-page report

delivered to an administrative oversight committee tasked with reviewing

them over the next 45 days before they can take effect.

But

both environmentalists and industry officials also were poring over the

report Friday, and some indicated that the battle over the regulations

may not be over. Mark Denzler, chief operating officer of the Illinois

Manufacturers' Association, said hopeful drillers were not happy with

the requirement for more detailed disclosure of specific chemicals,

which he said could threaten "trade secret protections."

"From a cursory review, there are concerns that the new rules exceed the scope of the legislation," Denzler said.

The

department also clarified rules to ensure that wastewater would not be

stored in open pits for more than a week at a time, which

environmentalists had said would lead to contamination. And it

stipulated that public hearings for fracking permits should not be held

further than 30 miles from where a well site would be located.

Some

environmentalists offered tepid praise for the department's attention

to their concerns, while saying they would be pouring over the new rules

over the next few days....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/fracking-rules_n_5737812.html

</div>

<div>==

<div>

</div>

<div>

(AP) — Illinois is buying more renewable energy than any other state in

the nation, which has reduced pollution by the equivalent of removing a

million cars from the road over the past few years, according to a

report released Friday by national and state environmental groups.

A

2009 state law allowed communities to buy their own electricity, rather

than relying on a central purchasing agency. Since then, more than 600

Illinois cities and towns have adopted aggregation, which allows them to

bundle residential and small business customers to buy cheaper

electricity in bulk from smaller suppliers.

Of

those, 91 are providing 100 percent renewable energy, either by buying

it directly or buying credits that help fund renewable energy

development, the report says.

Five

other states — California, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode

Island — also allow communities to buy electricity, but none comes close

to matching the renewable energy Illinois is purchasing, said Keya

Chatterjee, senior director for renewable energy and footprint outreach

at the World Wildlife Fund.

"It

is huge what is already being done," in Illinois, Chatterjee said.

"This is a story about local choice, and (Illinois) is choosing

renewables in town after town after town."

The

central Illinois city of Normal began aggregation about 1½ years ago,

allowing officials to buy electricity at lower rates than they would

have gotten otherwise, said Mayor Chris Koos.

He

said aggregation also "meshed with broader community sustainability

goals," which include trying to improve the environment. Normal buys

renewable energy credits, which helps fund development of power sources

such as wind and solar....huffpo

</div>

<div>

<div>

In

this age of climate destabilization, including record bouts of drought,

flooding and severe storms in the heartland, it seems almost unreal

that the Democrat-controlled state of Illinois is leading the charge for

a <a href="http://www.dontfractureillinois.net/" target="hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">fracking</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/cheering-record-coal-expo_b_3202018.html" target="hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">coal mining rush</a>.

And

this week, as central and southern Illinois folks pick up the pieces

from a horrific series of tornadoes, environmentalists and citizens

groups are scurrying to respond to the unmitigated disaster of the <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-17/business/ct-biz-1117-fracking-analysis--20131117_1_fracking-key-provisions-natural-resources" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">state's newly released fracking rules</a>.

"Behind the story you hear is the one I wish I could make you hear," my dear friend Dorothy Allison wrote in her book, Two or Three Things I Know For Sure.

While the <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-17/business/ct-biz-1117-fracking-analysis--20131117_1_fracking-key-provisions-natural-resources/2" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">news headlines</a> now

tell us that "environmentalists feel betrayed by proposed fracking

rules," the truth is -- as one southern Illinois resident told me -- the

"criticisms are peanuts compared to what <a href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/coalition-denounces-legislation-that-would-pave-way-for-fracking-in-illinois/" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">environmentalists gave away to industry</a> in the negotiations that led to the statute."

Two or three things we know for sure: Southern Illinoisans have a long, long, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/extraction-frontlines-org_b_3880129.html" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">long history of betrayal over environmental</a> and

community rights issues. Still deeply entrenched in poverty and

unemployment, southern Illinois has been plundered for two centuries by

the logging industry for its forests, plundered by the coal industry for

its coal reserves, and is now on pace to be plundered for its oil and

gas reserves (after a similar <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/16/boomtown-wrecks.html" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">oil rush in the 1940s</a>).

"The

four organizations who betrayed Southern Illinoisans on the fracking

bill -- Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental

Law & Policy Center, Faith in Place -- are now whining that the

legislation which they so loved last Spring has putrefied by Winter,"

said <a href="http://thesouthern.com/news/local/southern-star-sam-stears-shawnee-forest-are-inseparable/article_9fc23db8-df28-11df-993a-001cc4c002e0.html" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">Sam Stearns</a>,

a former oil rig worker, coal miner and long-time Shawnee National

Forest activist in southern Illinois. "They might as well save their

hand-wringing histrionics. We here in Southern Illinois have seen this

show before."

Stearns added a quick history lesson:

It was the "professional" environmental organizations back in the 1970s who signed on to a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/extraction-frontlines-org_b_3880129.html" target="_hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">watered down Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act</a> (SMCRA).

SMCRA paved the way for the abomination of mountaintop removal mining.

Here in Southern Illinois in the 1980s it was the Sierra Club which

signed an agreement with the U. S. Forest Service allowing for logging

on tens of thousands of acres of our Shawnee National Forest. This

logging has been stayed for a couple of decades now thanks to the

efforts of grassroots environmental activists; but in the interim this

same Sierra Club has acquiesced to other environmental degradation on

the Shawnee, including commercial development of Wilderness areas and

the application of synthetic chemicals in designated Natural Areas on

the Shawnee.

</blockquote>

And

now, suddenly "betrayed" by Gov. Pat Quinn's Illinois Department of

Natural Resources (IDNR), Chicago-based environmentalists like NRDC's

Ann Alexander think the fracking regulations just "need fixing," to stem

any concern about potential water contamination, earthquakes, air

pollution, well abandonment and fracking.

Here

are two or three more things we know for sure -- at least from

environmentalists and citizens groups that live in the fracking-targeted

region of southern Illinois, unlike those quoted in the various news

articles:

1)

Over the Next 40 Days, We Need to Bury the IDNR in Comments About the

Loophole-Riddled Fracking Rule -- And Jump Start the Fracking Moratorium

Movement: As Illinois native and renowned scientist <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/illinois-flawed-fracking-law-is-everyone-s-problem-ecologist-steingraber-says" target="hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">Sandra Steingraber</a> has admonished -- and <a href="http://www.thirtydaysoffrackingregs.com/" target="hplink" style="text-decoration: none;">done well in New York</a> --

the only way to keep Illinois from fast-tracking the incredibly flawed

rules into law is to bury the understaffed IDNR officials during the

public comment period, who are required to respond....

http://www.alternet.org/print/speakeasy/jeffbiggers/7-things-you-need-know-about-illinoiss-new-fracking-rules

</div>

<div>==

<div>

<div class="byline education"><a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/" style="">YES! Magazine</a> [1] / By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-biggers" style="">Jeff Biggers</a> [2]</div>

<h1 class="node-title">Pro-Coal Kids' Pages Pulled from Government Site as Public Pressure Increases</h1>

</div>

<div class="story-date">October 18, 2013  |  </div>

The Illinois Department of

Commerce and Economic Opportunity has removed coal-related educational

sections from its website, less than two weeks after the launch of a

grassroots campaign demanding that the pages be taken down.

The website sections were supposed to educate children about energy, but had been <a class="external-link" href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/28/time_to_come_clean_about_coal_quinn_partner/" style="">widely denounced</a> [3] because they focused on misleading pro-coal messages.

It wasn't just

environmentalists who objected to the way Illinois was talking about

coal to kids. Last month, a state-commissioned evaluation of the

Illinois coal education program <a href="http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/09/04/pro-coal-school-curriculum-on-the-rocks-in-illinois/" style="">determined</a> [4] that the curriculum, including the website, was "biased towards a positive image of coal."

As pressure increased on the department to take action, staff members initially claimed that they were <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/when-will-illinois-stop-p_b_3833998.html" style="">too broke to fix the problem</a> [5].

Then the pages disappeared from the site on Monday. Earlier screen

shots show sections called "Education" and "Kid's Site," neither of

which was visible when YES! checked the DCEO site [this week].

"This is a victory for our

children and schools," said Sam Stearns, a former coal miner who helped

to organize for the site to be changed, "and a first step toward

refashioning an energy education program that tells the truth about the

health and environmental impacts of coal mining and burning."

In the <a href="http://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/gov-quinn-stop-lying-to-kids-about-coal" style="">CREDO petition</a> [6] Stearns

launched, along with former country music singer and environmentalist

Mark Donham, the two criticized the website's downplay of environmental

impacts and safety issues among miners, especially black lung disease.

They also singled out the use

of a cartoon figure that told children that land reclamation efforts

after strip-mining return the land "the way it was or better than before

mining."

Along with CREDO, Stearns was

joined by national children's groups such as Rethinking Schools, the

Zinn Education Project, and the Boston-based Campaign for a

Commercial-Free Childhood, which led a successful campaign two years ago

to expose the "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/education/12coal.html" style="">United States of Energy</a> [7]," a curriculum published by Scholastic but bankrolled by the American Coal Foundation.

"It's not surprising that a

desperate industry would try and win children's hearts and minds," said

Josh Golin, the campaign's associate director. "But it's beyond

disappointing that state education officials would help dirty coal with

this dirty mission."

Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor at Rethinking Schools magazine and co-director of the Zinn Education Project, found the outcome encouraging.

"They can only get away with this because people haven't demanded that it stop," he said. "Now, they have."

</div>

</div>

<div class="tags">See more stories tagged with:

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/education-0" style="">education</a> [8],</div>

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/environment-0" style="">environment</a> [9],</div>

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/rethinking-schools" style="">rethinking schools</a> [11],</div>

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/illinois-0" style="">illinois</a> [12],</div>

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/amrican-coal-foundation" style="">Amrican Coal Foundation</a> [13]</div>

</div>

<div class="print-source_url" style="">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/pro-coal-kids-pages-pulled-government-site-public-pressure-increases" style="">http://www.alternet.org/education/pro-coal-kids-pages-pulled-government-site-public-pressure-increases</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://www.yesmagazine.org

[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-biggers

[3] http://www.salon.com/2013/09/28/time_to_come_clean_about_coal_quinn_partner/

[4] http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/09/04/pro-coal-school-curriculum-on-the-rocks-in-illinois/

[5] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/when-will-illinois-stop-p_b_3833998.html

[6] http://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/gov-quinn-stop-lying-to-kids-about-coal

[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/education/12coal.html

[8] http://www.alternet.org/tags/education-0

[9] http://www.alternet.org/tags/environment-0

[10] http://www.alternet.org/tags/coal

[11] http://www.alternet.org/tags/rethinking-schools

[12] http://www.alternet.org/tags/illinois-0

[13] http://www.alternet.org/tags/amrican-coal-foundation

[14] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

</div>

<div>==

<div id="byline" class="byline">Posted by <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-biggers">Jeff Biggers</a> [1] at 10:51 am

May 1, 2013</div>

<h1 class="node-title">Illinois Ranks As Worst Rogue Coal State: Strip Mine Permit To Serial Violator Stuns Residents</h1>

</div>

Whether she runs for governor

or not, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan would need nine lives to

bring the state's notoriously broken regulatory system into compliance

with the nation's most reckless coal industry.

With state <a href="http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1084483361/Illinois-coal-production-on-increase-bucking-national-trend" target="_hplink">coal production soaring</a> [2]against

national trends, Illinois cemented its reputation as the worst rogue

state for coal operations last Friday, when the rubber-stamping

operations of the state's EPA issued a <a href="http://www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2010/springfield-coal-industry/permit.pdf" target="hplink">pollutant discharge permit</a> [3] to a company already cited by the state for<a href="http://tristatesradio.com/post/industry-mine-cited-over-600-pollution-violations" target="hplink">over 600 toxic discharge violations</a> [4] at its central Illinois non-union strip mine.

Translation: Imagine the

Department of Motor Vehicles renewing the driver's license of a

toxic-laden truck driver with 600 DUI's.

Welcome to Illinois--where the brand new Prairie State coal-fired plant is facing "<a href="http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/Ohio-Attorney-General-asked-to-probe-Cleveland-power-plant-deal-with-Prairie-State-Energy" target="hplink">potential fraud</a> [5]" investigations for <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt5d212me0tgbq6/Prairie%20State%20Report.pdf" target="hplink">rocket increases</a> [6] in electricity rates; where the second highest number of <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/documents/IllinoisatRisk.pdf" target="hplink">contaminated coal ash dump sites</a> [7] in the country abound; where a mind-boggling <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/coal-slurry-scandal-gov-q_b_1119032.html" target="hplink">high hazard coal slurry dam</a> [8] continues to rise in sight of a <a href="http://www.citizensagainstlongwallmining.org/" target="_hplink">farm town</a> [9]'s

nursing home and day care center; where Illinois taxpayers underwrite a

huge slush fund for coal marketing, including a shameless "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/coal-marketing_b_882383.html" target="_hplink">coal education curriculum"</a> [10]

for students that blatantly covers up the facts on the state's deadly

coal industry; where even the liberal US Sen. Dick Durbin fights for the

<a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130228/NEWS11/130229710/durbin-blasts-exelon-for-futuregen-betrayal" target="hplink">pork of "clean coal"</a> [11] as the main utility company <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-28/business/chi-ameren-pulls-out-of-futuregen-20111128_1_futuregen-project-futuregen-alliance-ameren" target="hplink">backs out</a> [12] of the FutureGen boondoggle.

Even with <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/07/09/155978300/as-mine-protections-fail-black-lung-cases-surge" target="hplink">black lung disease</a> [13] for coal miners spiking, the Illinois <a href="http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x766892131/Audit-finds-lack-of-mine-inspectors-in-Illinois" target="hplink">Department of Natural Resources was also found in violation</a> [14] of state law's for failing to hire enough mine safety inspectors.

It's so pathetic in Illinois that even bankrupt energy companies are granted two-year <a href="http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/04/04/midwest-generation-gets-more-time-to-clean-up-illinois-coal-plants/" target="_hplink">extensions on their deadly emissions</a> [15] clean up requirements.

It's so pathetic in Illinois that there's not even a <a href="http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x848909664/Letter-Consider-coal-severance-tax" target="_hplink">coal severance tax</a> [16], or collection of sales tax for out-of-state transactions--a huge detail when record coal exports now drive the market.

It's so pathetic in Illinois that we don't even celebrate <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/oct-12th-mother-jones-is_b_759490.html" target="_hplink">Coal Miners Day</a> [17]--just the coal barons.

And last Friday's <a href="http://www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2010/npdes-notices.html#springfield-coal-industry" target="_hplink">notice</a> [18]

by the Illinois EPA, sent in an email after working hours, on the

granting of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit

for Springfield Coal's strip mine operation near the township of

Industry might be the most unabashed denial of facts and community input

in recent memory.

"The fact that this mine, with

hundreds of water violations has been allowed to function these past 5

years without even having their permit approved until after the fact is

totally appalling," said long-time area resident Kimberly Sedgwick, who

has spent years begging state agencies and organizations to intervene in

the violation-ridden mine. "If companies are allowed to proceed without

having permits prior, then what sort of atrocities are actually taking

place? Unless I am missing something here, This is a complete mockery of

our state agency and our Illinois system. It points towards corruption

if you ask me. This is totally unacceptable!"

Along with being a dumping

ground of toxic coal ash, the Industry mine will continue to discharge

into Grindstone Creek, a historic watershed that served the first mills

in the region, and flows into Camp Creek, a major site for historic

Native American occupation, and then into the Lamoine River.

Call it a chronicle of a rigged permit system foretold.

I'll never forget a public

hearing on the Industry mine held in Macomb, Illinois, on April 12,

2011, packed to the gills by locals against the strip mine, and

listening to Illinois EPA official Larry Crislip inform a concerned

citizen that the IEPA had never denied a coal mining NPDES permit. Ever. No matter how bad of an outlaw mining operation.

From the hearing transcripts:

<blockquote>MR. MOOREHOUSE: Okay.

In the past the IEPA has refused -- has the EPA in the past refused to

issue a permit to a serial violator to a coal surface mine?

MR. CRISLIP: To my recollection, I do not recall denying a permit. We work those issues out.

</blockquote>

According to I-EPA spokesperson

Dean Studer, Crislip was not available to explain how Illinois

bureaucrats "work those issues out" this week because he was on a

two-week vacation.

Kind of makes you miss the old days of disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was at least open about his Coal Revival Program.

Either way, forget climate

change denial. Still in the 19th century regulatory mode, Illinois has

become the king of coal denial. And regulated coal destruction.

</div>

</div>

</div>

<div class="tags">See more stories tagged with:

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/dirty-coal">dirty coal</a> [20],</div>

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/climate-0">climate</a> [21]</div>

</div>

<div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/jeffbiggers/illinois-ranks-worst-rogue-coal-state-strip-mine-permit-serial-violator-stuns">http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/jeffbiggers/illinois-ranks-worst-rogue-coal-state-strip-mine-permit-serial-violator-stuns</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-biggers

[2] http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1084483361/Illinois-coal-production-on-increase-bucking-national-trend

[3] http://www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2010/springfield-coal-industry/permit.pdf

[4] http://tristatesradio.com/post/industry-mine-cited-over-600-pollution-violations

[5]

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/Ohio-Attorney-General-asked-to-probe-Cleveland-power-plant-deal-with-Prairie-State-Energy

[6] https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt5d212me0tgbq6/Prairie%20State%20Report.pdf

[7] http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/documents/IllinoisatRisk.pdf

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/coal-slurry-scandal-gov-q_b_1119032.html

[9] http://www.citizensagainstlongwallmining.org/

[10] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/coal-marketing_b_882383.html

[11] http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130228/NEWS11/130229710/durbin-blasts-exelon-for-futuregen-betrayal

[12]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-28/business/chi-ameren-pulls-out-of-futuregen-20111128_1_futuregen-project-futuregen-alliance-ameren

[13] http://www.npr.org/2012/07/09/155978300/as-mine-protections-fail-black-lung-cases-surge

[14] http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x766892131/Audit-finds-lack-of-mine-inspectors-in-Illinois

[15] http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/04/04/midwest-generation-gets-more-time-to-clean-up-illinois-coal-plants/

[16] http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x848909664/Letter-Consider-coal-severance-tax

[17] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/oct-12th-mother-jones-is_b_759490.html

[18] http://www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2010/npdes-notices.html#springfield-coal-industry

[19] http://www.alternet.org/tags/coal

[20] http://www.alternet.org/tags/dirty-coal

[21] http://www.alternet.org/tags/climate-0

</div>

</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>