Published: Friday, April 24, 2009 4:57 PM CDT
Environmentalists warn that the state of Illinois contributes more than its share to the global warming issues.
Illinois
is the seventh largest source of global warming pollution in the
country and combined with seven other Midwestern states, it emits more
than 23 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas pollution – 5 percent of
the world’s.
Hoping to decrease Illinois’ role in its
contribution to climate changing damage, the Illinois Environmental
Council (IEC) chose Earth Day to re-energize support of several climate
change legislative measures.
Prior to the IEC’s town hall
meeting to discuss several global warming measures, the IEC held a
press briefing in coordination with Environment Illinois, the Sierra
Club, SIUE’s Political Science Association and the SIUE SOS (Student
Organization for Sustainability) to provide information about various
efforts in progress and future plans in the state.
IEC’s
Communications and Marketing Director Gail Philbin began by noting that
this was the second year for the town hall meetings. Although more than
200 people typically showed up at last year’s town hall meetings which
were highly successful, Philbin pointed out that this year the support
behind environmental issues was growing.
Philbin specifically
noted President Obama and Illinois Governor Quinn’s interest in
addressing global warming issues and that “we’re moving in a new
direction.”
“It’s a greener landscape both in Washington, D.C., and at the state capitol,” Philbin said. “It’s a pivotal moment.”
Brian
Granahan, attorney with Environment Illinois, explained that while they
had made some strides in the past few years, there was much more work
to be done.
One of the bills that the organization is hoping to
enact is the Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB 422/SB 1941). This measure
sets strong state-level standards for automakers to reduce the amount
of global warming pollution from cars and light trucks on a fleet-wide
average basis between 2009 and 2020.
The bill would basically
adopt California’s stronger emission standards for tailpipe emissions
from automobiles. Granahan pointed out that the bill would not only
reduce the amount of soot that enters the air we breathe which would
improve public health but also reduce our carbon emissions by 40
percent by 2020. He further noted that there are federal standards in
place for carbon emissions but they are weak and don’t regulate CO2.
The California standards would regulate CO2.
Other
measures that the organization is pursuing are the Natural Gas Energy
Efficiency Standard (HB 4321), Greenhouse Gas Cap and Invest Program
(HB 3668/SB 856) and the Energy Efficient Building Act (HB 3987).
SIUE
student Nathalie Woloszyn, president of the SOS organization, explained
that the organization is currently involved in several projects – one
of which is planning for an experimental student garden for herbs,
vegetables and cut flowers.
SOS is currently working on a bike
share program whereby students will be able to rent bicycles and
helmets to ride around campus and along the bike paths to locations
around Edwardsville. Woloszyn envisioned the program having bicycle
stations at key Edwardsville locations that the students frequent.
Woloszyn
also noted that one of the organization’s future goals was to implement
a “green fee” of $10 or $15 that all SIUE students would pay. This fee
would be applied to “green” projects in and around the campus.
The SOS organization annually hosts a Campus Clean Up Day where students and community members pick up trash on campus.
In
addition, Woloszyn added that the SOS organization worked closely with
the Gardens at SIUE and volunteered regularly to remove invasive plants
to encourage a more native habitat.
According to the SIUE SOS
Web site, the organization’s goal is “to combat apathy towards
environmental issues as well as promote lifestyle choices that decrease
or reverse environmental degradation on our campus, in our region, our
country, and our world.”
All of the SIUE student organizations
that participated in the briefing also participated in a student group
panel discussion at the IEC town hall meeting Wednesday night.
The
public forum, co-hosted by SIUE’s Peace Studies Program, featured Mark
Hildebrandt, an SIUE geography professor and climate change expert who
discussed “The Cold, Hard Truth About Global Warming.” Members of
several student groups and Christine Favilla of the Piasa Palisades
Sierra Club spoke about local efforts to address climate change.
IEC’s
“Global Warming, Local Solutions” town hall series will travel to
locations around the state in coming months, including stops planned
for Rockford and the Quad Cities. The series builds on a dialogue
started in 2008 with four public forms held in Decatur, Alton,
Belleville and Peoria. Those events attracted local residents,
legislators and concerned citizens who gathered to learn more about the
issue of global warming.
“Since we last held these forms, the
climate has already changed – literally and politically,” Charles
Jackson, IEC’s executive director said. “Scientific reports come out
almost daily indicating the impact of global warming is occurring more
quickly than expected, and we now have environmentally friendly leaders
like President Obama and Governor Quinn in office for the first time in
years. There’s never been a better time to act on this important issue.”
