Bill Text: IL HR0123 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Enbridge and any other pipeline company transporting fossil fuels to have an environmental impact study conducted by a third-party scientific organization with no ties to the industry before they lay any new section of pipe and before any section of existing pipe begins to transport tar sands oil or natural gas extracted by fracking, requires any environmental impact study to include the long-term impact of burning fossil fuels on the looming climate crisis, and requires Enbridge and any other pipeline company to be held fully responsible for any environmental damages caused by leaks or spills or for agricultural damage to the farms through which their pipelines pass.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HR0123 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-HR0123-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Enbridge, a Canadian pipeline company, has | ||||||
3 | pipelines
running through Illinois carrying crude oil and tar | ||||||
4 | sands oil; this poses a risk of leaks and spills to the
towns | ||||||
5 | and cities, the farms and waterways, and the wetlands of
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6 | Illinois and to Illinois residents; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Enbridge was responsible for the 2010
Kalamazoo | ||||||
8 | Oil Spill in Michigan, the largest inland oil spill in
the | ||||||
9 | United States, and while it claims that it has fully cleaned
up | ||||||
10 | the spill, local residents say that the river is toxic and
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11 | unsafe for fishing and for all the recreational uses that they
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12 | enjoyed before the 2010 spill; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Enbridge has a history of 800 other spills, | ||||||
14 | including the
2010 spill in the Village of Romeoville, | ||||||
15 | litigation about
which is still ongoing; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Commerce Commission has given | ||||||
17 | Enbridge a
certificate of "good standing" to expand and build | ||||||
18 | additional
sections of pipeline, using the rationale that the | ||||||
19 | citizens of
Illinois urgently need the oil that Enbridge is | ||||||
20 | transporting; and
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21 | WHEREAS, The notion that the citizens of Illinois urgently |
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1 | need
the oil that Enbridge is transporting is belied by the | ||||||
2 | fact that
a large portion of that oil is being refined and | ||||||
3 | exported to
other countries; and
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4 | WHEREAS, The decision that a constant supply of oil is a | ||||||
5 | "public
good" is further belied by the looming threat of | ||||||
6 | climate change
and the impending climate crisis; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The public good of the citizens of Illinois would | ||||||
8 | be
better served by massive investments in renewable energy and
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9 | conservation; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The certificate of "good standing" gives Enbridge | ||||||
11 | the
right to use Illinois courts to demand that landowners give | ||||||
12 | it
easements to put new sections of pipeline across their lands | ||||||
13 | and
to use eminent domain to force the landowners to comply on | ||||||
14 | terms
largely favorable to Enbridge; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Enbridge is using that power of eminent domain in | ||||||
16 | a
bullying fashion, forcing landowners who do not want that | ||||||
17 | pipeline
to accept the pipeline and Enbridge's terms for it; | ||||||
18 | therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
21 | urge Enbridge and any other pipeline company transporting |
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1 | fossil fuels to have an environmental impact study conducted by | ||||||
2 | a third-party scientific organization with no ties to the | ||||||
3 | industry before they lay any new section of pipe and before any | ||||||
4 | section of existing pipe begins to transport tar sands oil or | ||||||
5 | natural gas extracted by fracking; and be it further
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6 | RESOLVED, That any environmental impact study must include | ||||||
7 | the
long-term impact of burning fossil fuels on the looming | ||||||
8 | climate
crisis; and be it further
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9 | RESOLVED, That Enbridge and any other pipeline company must | ||||||
10 | be
held fully responsible for any environmental damages caused | ||||||
11 | by
leaks or spills or for agricultural damage to the farms | ||||||
12 | through
which their pipelines pass.
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