Illinois Senate Passes Comprehensive Energy Reform Bill, Advocates Pushing for Key Amendments from State House

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Illinois’ Senate passed a comprehensive energy bill to the state House late last night that paves the way for a transition to clean energy including the closure of all fossil fuel plants by 2045. Illinois is poised to become the first state in the Midwest to completely decarbonize its power sector. 

Senate negotiations ran till late Tuesday night but portions of the bill may be amended when the House of Representatives sends the bill to Gov. Pritzker’s desk, namely emissions benchmarks for the Dallman and Prairie State coal plants.

The following is a quote from JC Kibbey, NRDC’s (Natural Resources Defense Council) Illinois Clean Energy Advocate:

“Illinois now has a path to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. It's glaring that the bill still lacks near-term standards for the biggest polluter in Illinois, the Prairie State coal plant. Science tells us we cannot wait decades to reduce emissions from coal if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change. We look to House leadership to add this simple but crucial missing piece and to pass a bill that our state can be proud of in the next few days.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.