HR0961 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0961 LRB096 21307 MJR 37293 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Energy policy and regulation are vital to Illinois' economy and have a direct impact on Illinois families, farmers, businesses, and employees; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the "Waxman-Markey" and "Cap and Trade", passed by the United States House of Representatives and now pending before the United States Senate, will have a dramatic effect on every American, increase the cost of supplying homes and businesses with electricity, cause job losses, and impose burdensome costs on the poor and families with incomes of less than $10,000 annually for whom energy costs today make up 60% of their average family expenses, and for families with incomes of $10,000 to $25,000 annually, such costs make up 25% of their average family expenses; and

WHEREAS, On December 7, 2009, the Administrator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed 2 distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under Section 202(c) of the federal Clean Air Act:

(1) Endangerment Finding: the Administrator finds that the current and projected concentrations of the 6 key well-mixed greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexaflouride (SF6), in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations; and

(2) Cause and Contribute Finding: the Administrator finds that the combined emissions of these well-mixed greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution which threatens public health and welfare; and

WHEREAS, This finding by the EPA, if implemented, will cost Illinois jobs and raise electric rates on families, farmers, businesses, and employees; and

WHEREAS, The people of Illinois are dependent on coal for their electricity, obtaining approximately 50% of electrical energy from coal for their homes, farms, and businesses; this heavy dependence on coal is common throughout the Midwestern states; and

WHEREAS, Illinois is blessed with an abundance of coal, with coal-bearing rocks under 65% of the State, including all or parts of 86 of the 102 counties; the amount of recoverable coal beneath the surface in Illinois is estimated at 100 billion tons, enough to meet the nation's energy needs for the next 100 years; there is more energy content in the coal in Illinois than the oil in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry is a critical component of the State's economy, currently providing 4,000 direct jobs, thousands more indirect jobs, with an impact of over $1 billion to the State's economy; and

WHEREAS, The technology of the 21st Century is providing cleaner, yet still affordable, baseload generation from coal, including Super Critical Pulverized Coal at the Prairie State Energy Campus in Washington County now under construction and scheduled to go online in 2011, and will provide low-cost energy to 2.5 million people in 9 states; and

WHEREAS, In 2009 the Clean Coal Portfolio Standard Act became law, which requires utilities to purchase up to 5% of their electricity from clean coal facilities that capture and store 50% of its carbon emissions, thus providing incentives for further development of coal gasification, coal-to-liquid, and carbon sequestration technologies; the Act also establishes a goal that each public utility obtain 25% of its power from clean coal plants by 2025; and

WHEREAS, Illinois' abundance of coal and incentives for coal gasification has made it the world's center for clean coal technology attracting several projects now in the planning phase, including the FutureGen project in Mattoon, the Taylorville Energy Center, the Power Holdings project in Jefferson County, and the Secure Energy project in Decatur; and

WHEREAS, The focus in Illinois and throughout the Midwest should be on developing and deploying clean coal technologies rather than a punitive system that drives up costs, leads to lower baseload energy production, and inhibits or prevents progress on a fuel that the United States has in abundance within its own borders; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge our elected statewide officials to express their opposition to the further acceptance or approval of the Environmental Protection Agency formal endangerment finding on greenhouse gases; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental Protection Agency to rescind their recent formal endangerment finding on greenhouse gases; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the we urge the Illinois congressional delegation to vote against H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy Act of 2009, and urge our elected statewide officials express their respective positions on the passage of H.R. 2454 and send a unified message to our congressional delegation; and be it further

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