HR0961 LRB096 21307 MJR 37293 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Energy policy and regulation are vital to
3 Illinois' economy and have a direct impact on Illinois
4 families, farmers, businesses, and employees; and
 
5     WHEREAS, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security
6 Act of 2009, also known as the "Waxman-Markey" and "Cap and
7 Trade", passed by the United States House of Representatives
8 and now pending before the United States Senate, will have a
9 dramatic effect on every American, increase the cost of
10 supplying homes and businesses with electricity, cause job
11 losses, and impose burdensome costs on the poor and families
12 with incomes of less than $10,000 annually for whom energy
13 costs today make up 60% of their average family expenses, and
14 for families with incomes of $10,000 to $25,000 annually, such
15 costs make up 25% of their average family expenses; and
 
16     WHEREAS, On December 7, 2009, the Administrator for the
17 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed 2
18 distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under Section
19 202(c) of the federal Clean Air Act:
20         (1) Endangerment Finding: the Administrator finds that
21     the current and projected concentrations of the 6 key
22     well-mixed greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
23     (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),

 

 

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1     perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexaflouride (SF6), in
2     the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of
3     current and future generations; and
4         (2) Cause and Contribute Finding: the Administrator
5     finds that the combined emissions of these well-mixed
6     greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor
7     vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution
8     which threatens public health and welfare; and
 
9     WHEREAS, This finding by the EPA, if implemented, will cost
10 Illinois jobs and raise electric rates on families, farmers,
11 businesses, and employees; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The people of Illinois are dependent on coal for
13 their electricity, obtaining approximately 50% of electrical
14 energy from coal for their homes, farms, and businesses; this
15 heavy dependence on coal is common throughout the Midwestern
16 states; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Illinois is blessed with an abundance of coal,
18 with coal-bearing rocks under 65% of the State, including all
19 or parts of 86 of the 102 counties; the amount of recoverable
20 coal beneath the surface in Illinois is estimated at 100
21 billion tons, enough to meet the nation's energy needs for the
22 next 100 years; there is more energy content in the coal in
23 Illinois than the oil in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry is a critical component
2 of the State's economy, currently providing 4,000 direct jobs,
3 thousands more indirect jobs, with an impact of over $1 billion
4 to the State's economy; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The technology of the 21st Century is providing
6 cleaner, yet still affordable, baseload generation from coal,
7 including Super Critical Pulverized Coal at the Prairie State
8 Energy Campus in Washington County now under construction and
9 scheduled to go online in 2011, and will provide low-cost
10 energy to 2.5 million people in 9 states; and
 
11     WHEREAS, In 2009 the Clean Coal Portfolio Standard Act
12 became law, which requires utilities to purchase up to 5% of
13 their electricity from clean coal facilities that capture and
14 store 50% of its carbon emissions, thus providing incentives
15 for further development of coal gasification, coal-to-liquid,
16 and carbon sequestration technologies; the Act also
17 establishes a goal that each public utility obtain 25% of its
18 power from clean coal plants by 2025; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Illinois' abundance of coal and incentives for
20 coal gasification has made it the world's center for clean coal
21 technology attracting several projects now in the planning
22 phase, including the FutureGen project in Mattoon, the

 

 

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1 Taylorville Energy Center, the Power Holdings project in
2 Jefferson County, and the Secure Energy project in Decatur; and
 
3     WHEREAS, The focus in Illinois and throughout the Midwest
4 should be on developing and deploying clean coal technologies
5 rather than a punitive system that drives up costs, leads to
6 lower baseload energy production, and inhibits or prevents
7 progress on a fuel that the United States has in abundance
8 within its own borders; therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11 urge our elected statewide officials to express their
12 opposition to the further acceptance or approval of the
13 Environmental Protection Agency formal endangerment finding on
14 greenhouse gases; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
16 Protection Agency to rescind their recent formal endangerment
17 finding on greenhouse gases; and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That the we urge the Illinois congressional
19 delegation to vote against H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy
20 Act of 2009, and urge our elected statewide officials express
21 their respective positions on the passage of H.R. 2454 and send
22 a unified message to our congressional delegation; and be it

 

 

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1 further
 
2     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent
3 to Governor Pat Quinn, President Barack Obama, President of the
4 United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of
5 Representatives, the Administrator of the Environmental
6 Protection Agency, and each member of the Illinois
7 congressional delegation.