Solar solutions for Illinois

Illinois is a leader . . . in dirty energy. Ninety-seven percent of our electricity comes from coal or nuclear plants. And while we've made great strides in bringing more wind power online, we've yet to harness perhaps our most promising resource: the sun. In fact, there are already 27 different cities in California with more installed solar capacity than the entire state of Illinois. But Illinois has surprising solar potential -- more than Germany and Japan, two of the world's leading producers of solar energy.

Back in 1931, Thomas Edison said "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." It's time for Illinois to avail itself of this natural resource and become a leader in the clean energy technologies of tomorrow. That's why Environment Illinois's 2010 legislative agenda includes several bills that will help break down barriers and encourage solar projects across our state.