Bill Text: IL HR0560 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Illinois Power Agency, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Illinois Department of Revenue to take action to implement the use of Illinois coal; urges all agencies and stakeholders developing strategies to comply with new federal carbon emissions requirements to utilize Illinois coal to reduce carbon emissions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-03 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HR0560 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HR0560-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Illinois has been a leader in energy production
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3 | within the United States, in large part due to Illinois' vast
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4 | coal resources; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Illinois has the largest recoverable bituminous
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6 | coal reserves in the United States, a reserve base larger than
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7 | all but 6 countries in the world, and the ability to produce
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8 | all of America's electricity needs for 50 years; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Illinois is a net exporter of electricity, the | ||||||
10 | largest electricity exporter in the Midwest, and one of the | ||||||
11 | largest in the United States; nearly 45% of Illinois' energy | ||||||
12 | comes from coal-burning plants within the State; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Coal power plants in the United States have met | ||||||
14 | the environmental challenges of the past 4 decades while | ||||||
15 | meeting the low-cost energy needs of the nation; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry is currently
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17 | responsible for over $2,500,000,000 in annual economic
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18 | activity within the State, including employing approximately | ||||||
19 | 5,000 miners with an average salary of $85,000 a year, higher | ||||||
20 | than both the United States and Illinois median household | ||||||
21 | incomes; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry has faced increased
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2 | environmental regulations in the last 2 decades that resulted
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3 | in coal production going from 62 million tons of mined coal in
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4 | 1990 to a low of 31 million tons in 2003 and a loss of 6,500
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5 | direct jobs during this time period; and
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6 | WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 imposed
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7 | strict sulfur dioxide (S02) emission standards, making coal
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8 | mined in Illinois unusable without flue gas desulfurization
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9 | (FGD) equipment, often referred to as "scrubbers"; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Technology can be deployed that allows
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11 | high-sulfur Illinois coal to be burned efficiently while
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12 | meeting strict State and federal air emission standards;
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13 | specifically, the State of Illinois should be encouraging the
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14 | retrofitting and use of advanced clean coal technologies such
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15 | as flue gas desulfurization, wet electro-static precipitators | ||||||
16 | (wet ESPs), and oxy-combustion; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Illinois currently exports coal to 18 states that | ||||||
18 | utilize advanced clean coal technologies; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Illinois power plants currently use Wyoming coal | ||||||
20 | despite the fact that advanced clean coal technology would | ||||||
21 | allow the utilization of Illinois coal, saving Illinois |
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1 | consumers hundreds of millions of dollars; and
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2 | WHEREAS, It is costing Illinois consumers more than
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3 | $1,000,000,000 annually to import coal from other states,
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4 | primarily from Wyoming; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Using Illinois coal within Illinois would lead to
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6 | substantial economic benefits by saving $1,000,000,000 in
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7 | transportation costs and creating thousands of new jobs in
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8 | mining and ancillary industries in currently economically
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9 | depressed counties in central and southern Illinois while | ||||||
10 | creating more State and local tax revenue; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Using Illinois coal within Illinois benefits the
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12 | environment as well as the economy by reducing C02 emissions
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13 | through the use of higher rank coals; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Switching to Illinois coal through the | ||||||
15 | retrofitting and use of advanced clean coal technologies would | ||||||
16 | reduce CO2 emissions by at least 4% annually because Illinois | ||||||
17 | Basin Coal has a lower CO2 content than Wyoming coal, and an | ||||||
18 | additional 20% reduction in CO2 emissions would result from the | ||||||
19 | reduction in transportation related emissions annually; and
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20 | WHEREAS, The recent growth in Illinois coal production has | ||||||
21 | been due to approximately $10 billion in new investment in the |
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1 | past 10 years in the Illinois coal fields producing low-cost | ||||||
2 | coal and the retrofitting of pollution control technology in | ||||||
3 | power plants throughout the United States in response to | ||||||
4 | changes in the Clean Air Act mandating reduced air emissions; | ||||||
5 | and
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6 | WHEREAS, The switch to Illinois coal will improve the
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7 | competitiveness of Illinois power generation as Illinois coal
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8 | has a lower delivered cost, stable pricing, and higher heat
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9 | content; once retrofitted with advanced technology, Illinois
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10 | power plants fired with Illinois coal should be more
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11 | competitive in electricity markets, thereby helping to insure
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12 | the continued generation of competitive power for both in-state
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13 | customers and the out-of-state electricity market; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Much of the State of Illinois overlays the Mount
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15 | Simon Sandstone, a saline-filled, porous, deep geological
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16 | formation of enormous capacity that has been determined to be
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17 | one of the most significant carbon resources in the United
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18 | States, and its development could result in expanded use of
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19 | Illinois coal in a carbon-constrained world; and
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20 | WHEREAS, It is vital that Illinois coal be considered part
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21 | of an "All of the Above" approach to energy production in order
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22 | to keep Illinois as a leader in energy production, job
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23 | creation, economic growth, and environmental protection; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Illinois coal must be part of the solution to | ||||||
2 | reducing the State's carbon emissions and complying with | ||||||
3 | federal carbon emission requirements; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Sufficient studies have taken place, and the data | ||||||
5 | is clear that Illinois power plants should be using Illinois | ||||||
6 | coal; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Dynegy should offer to the people of the State of | ||||||
8 | Illinois an explanation of its plans for its 10 coal-fired | ||||||
9 | plants in Illinois; therefore, be it
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10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
11 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
12 | urge the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the | ||||||
13 | Illinois Commerce Commission, the Illinois Power Agency, the | ||||||
14 | Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and | ||||||
15 | the Illinois Department of Revenue to take action to implement | ||||||
16 | the use of Illinois coal; and be it further
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17 | RESOLVED, That we urge all agencies and stakeholders | ||||||
18 | developing strategies to comply with new federal carbon | ||||||
19 | emissions requirements to utilize Illinois coal to reduce | ||||||
20 | carbon emissions; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That we urge Dynegy to provide an explanation of | ||||||
2 | its plans for its 10 coal-fired plants in Illinois to the | ||||||
3 | General Assembly and Governor Rauner prior to June 14, 2015; | ||||||
4 | and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
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6 | delivered to Governor Bruce Rauner, the Illinois Congressional
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7 | delegation, and all the members of the General Assembly.
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