ALTON - The topic of the gathering, the Clean Energy Jobs Act, strives to remove carbon from the state's electric grid by 2030 and make Illinois carbon-free by 2050. This would close plants and coal mines all across the state.
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The act would work to assist individuals and communities who would be impacted by these large changes through a Community Reinvestment Fund, offering $210 million annually to Workforce Hubs and other programs to help these communities make the transition. A 6% coal severance fee and a pollution fee would help fund this. Additional assistance would include providing up to $100 annually in funds for communities who would lose tax revenue from closed mines or plants. $9 million to assist those who would be losing jobs because of the act. They would also establish a Bill of Rights as a way to make sure workers would be informed of closures, in hopes of giving them time to find new work. $22.5 million would provide income tax credits for businesses that hire those who are looking for new jobs after the mines and plants close, and for clean energy businesses that invest in these areas.
Much of the talks had to do with the impacts of the many floods that have been taking place in Alton. With four of the worst floods Alton has ever faced happening only over the last decade, and the incredibly damaging flood that took place earlier this year, local environmental advocates have been taking a stand.
One of those who spoke was Mary Morrison, owner of Morrisons Irish Pub. She spoke about how these environmental changes have impacted her life and business.
“We got this place a little over four years ago, knowing we were in a floodplain, expecting to have floods now and then. But we did not expect the number or severity of the floods that we have faced in the last four years. Since we have been here, we have had eight floods, three of them in the top ten. One of them, this past one year was absolutely devastating to both our business and our employees. It made us be closed for two and a half months this year. Which is very difficult for a small business. We’ve gotta do something folks,” said Morrison.
Sandy Crawford of the Metro East Green Alliance spoke on Illinois agriculture.
“Farming sustains life and it’s a key pillar in our economy, it's also a very climate-sensitive activity. I have family farmland that's farmed in central Illinois. This has been a particularly challenging year for farmers across the state. Wet fields delayed planting, or in some cases left fields totally idle. As thousands of acres in Illinois were underwater, or inaccessible during planting time, the Department of Agriculture declared an agricultural disaster in all 102 counties in the state. The future of farming is uncertain, as increases in temperature, along with more variable rain will reduce the productivity of crops and negatively impact our food and our animal feed unless we make significant changes to our environment that will reduce greenhouse gasses, climate change will continue to wreak havoc on our homes, farms, businesses and our health. Transitioning to clean and just energy is one way Illinois can become a leader in addressing both climate change and environmental justice. Creating a healthy future by transitioning to clean every with legislation such as the Clean Energy Jobs Act is one way to protect health and our economic well being as we face the climate crisis. We urge our legislators to act now because waiting for the canary in the fossil fuel coal mine to die means we’ve waited too long,” said Crawford.
Godfrey Trustee, Virginia Woulfe-Beile also spoke of the flood's devastating impacts.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that the Village of Godfrey was impacted by flooding. It cut off access for a lot of our residents to their jobs, it was also a big problem for first responders. It impacted the safety of our community and it also impacted the health of our community. When you think of what floodwaters leave behind, a lot of toxic mess and mold. We really need to look at addressing these increasing flood events and these rain events that are happening more often. Fixing these problems will create jobs and keep our community safer. Some of these jobs are in the clean energy job sector, we’ve seen a lot of growth in solar in the Metro East through some of the group solar programs. Clean energy is here to stay and we need it to move forward in our communities. So I would ask our legislators to consider supporting the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Look into it and consider it for the safety of our communities,” said Woulfe-Beile.
Cory Davenport of the Sierra Club led the meeting and explained much of the Act to those in attendance. He closed with a final statement for legislators.
“Neither of Alton’s representatives to the Illinois General Assembly, Rep. Monica Bristow or Sen. Rachelle Crowe have supported this legislation. As it stands right now we’re looking for legislators and Governor J.B. Pritzker to sponsor this legislation, which would be groundbreaking nationwide, and would greatly improve the lives and economy of Illinois,” said Davenport.