Making the Transition to Clean and Renewable Energy
Science shows we have limited time left to save the planet - at the Sierra Club, we are committed to acting on climate change. While we work at all levels - federal, state, and local, we believe some of the biggest changes we can make are at the local level. We have a goal of getting to 100% clean energy by 2050. In Illinois, we have taken several steps to get there:
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We worked with the Clean Jobs Coalition to pass the Future Energy Jobs Act.
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We’re working at the local level to pass clean energy ordinances, encourage communities to study and decrease their carbon emissions, and to move their electricity towards clean energy such as solar.
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We are currently working to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act which would move the state to 100% clean energy by 2050, along with decreasing vehicle emissions by putting more electric vehicles on the road.
In Springfield, in collaboration with the Springfield Chapter of the NAACP we've worked to increase public process at our publicly owned utility - City, Water, Light & Power. We’ve also worked to address CWLP’s coal ash ponds, which continue to be a problem in our community. We’ve lobbied our legislators to pass the Illinois Senate Bill 9 which gives the IL EPA the authority to draft state coal ash regulations with ample public input.
In Springfield we advocated for City, Water, Light & Power to make a proper long-range plan for the utility. In 2019, after years of persistent urging by the public, the city commissioned The Energy Authority to do an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The IRP confirmed earlier reports by The Chamber of Commerce and Synapse Energy Economics that the three oldest and costly to run units at CWLP should be retired immediately.
In respect to the potential unit retirement, Sierra Club supports workers in bargaining for what they need in this transition and for the City of Springfield, as a publicly owned utility, to do the right thing for workers and create a transition plan that provides new opportunities for them.
Clean Energy Jobs Act
Thanks to the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016 (FEJA), the clean energy industry is
booming in Illinois.
- Now we have an opportunity to act to immediately ramp up renewable energy development in Illinois to put Illinois on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2050, cut carbon from the power sector by 2030, reduce gas and diesel vehicles from the transportation sector, and create jobs and economic opportunity.
- Gov. Pritzker and dozens of legislators have committed to that goal because they understand that doing so will spur additional economic growth and reduce energy bills for Illinois consumers.
