FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Contacts: Hannah Lee Flath, hannahlee.flath@sierraclub.org, 860-634-0225
Elizabeth Scrafford, elizabeth.scrafford@sierraclub.org, 208-818-4626
Nick Dodson, nickdodson@gmail.com, 217-622-9609
PAWNEE, IL. -- Last night, dozens of Pawnee area and other Illinois residents turned out to a public hearing in Pawnee to fight EmberClear’s proposed gas plant, and over a hundred folks showed up virtually to show solidarity for local residents and oppose dirty gas in Illinois. This is a massive rebuke of the proliferation of dirty and destructive gas plants throughout the state and our country. The public opposition signals to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that Illinois must follow suit of state agencies like the Department of Environmental Conservation in New York to recognize the need to set more stringent pollution standards for these proposed facilities, and deny permits that are inconsistent with state climate commitments.
The Illinois EPA recently proposed a draft operating permit for EmberClear, a Texas-based corporation that went bankrupt in 2016, to build the Lincoln Land Energy Center, a large electric generating plant that would be constructed next to people’s homes and schools in Pawnee. At a public hearing on Wednesday evening, local community members spoke up about their concerns about the proposed gas plant’s proximity to people’s homes and schools, as well as long-term concerns about the plant’s effect on public health and the environment.
The proposed gas plant would run on methane, a greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide, and the permit would allow the plant to emit up to 3.9 million tons of dangerous carbon pollution each year. In addition, Sierra Club estimates that “upstream” emissions from the extraction, transport, and storage of methane gas due to leaks and flaring would add another 3.4 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
“The Illinois EPA must grapple with the new precedents that have been set and our state’s new commitment to climate action, because this permit is antithetical to those commitments,” said local Sierra Club Organizing Manager Elizabeth Scrafford. “At the very least, this permit should be significantly strengthened with more stringent limits for greenhouse gas pollution, including a stronger standard for “best available control technology” and require the continuous monitoring of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter to protect Central Illinois families.”
“The role of renewable sources of energy is paramount in the end of the Fossil Fuel Era, and the creation of good jobs here in central Illinois” Sangamon Valley Group ExCom member and Springfield resident Nick Dodson said. “When we know to do better, we must do better. The Illinois EPA must take recent developments in state and federal laws and regulations, like the recent passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, into account prior to making final decisions on this plant. The last thing Pawnee needs is a literal Fossil of Industry left for the city and county to deal with.”