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LOCAL Announcement :: Elections & Legislation : Environment

For Real Clean and Cheaper Energy, Look to the Green Party Plan

Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for Illinois Governor, expressed approval of some components of the renewable energy plan recently released by Governor Rod Blagojevich. However, he added, tongue in cheek, that some aspects of the plan sounded "familiar":

"Back on December 22 of last year, when I announced my candidacy for Governor, I stated: 'Illinois has the agricultural and other resources and ability to turn a negative into a positive – to get out on the cutting edge of new, clean energy technologies that the times demand. I will get us on the right track, so that we meet and exceed the goal of 20 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 – a target that will create tens of thousands of new, quality jobs.'"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 23rd, 2006

Contact: Jennifer Rose, Whitney for Governor, 618-528-VOTE,
campaignmanager (at) whitneyforgov.org, www.whitneyforgov.org

Both Rod Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka have recently come out with energy proposals that frequently refer to "clean" and "renewable energy," with a lot of emphasis on biofuels and "clean coal" technologies. Some of Blagojevich's rhetoric sounds like it came straight from the Whitney playbook. But why should voters support the pale imitations when they can elect the genuine article? Rich Whitney and the Green Party -- a party based on ecological principles -- offer a comprehensive, job-creating "New Deal" on sustainable energy and sustainable transportation, that includes promotion of wind, solar, bio-fuel, geothermal and clean coal energy, as well as energy efficiency in building codes and consumer products, and efficient mass transit, such as high-speed rail.

Whitney does favor clean-coal production through gasification and has previously pointed out that an existing technology -- "Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle," which can burn coal about as cleanly as natural gas -- should be promoted as one part of a comprehensive energy plan. And he applauded the Blagojevich plan for including promotion of coal gasification and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions.

However, according to Whitney, the plan puts too much emphasis on coal gasification and ethanol production alone. "Our experience with petroleum should teach us that it isn't wise to put too many of our energy eggs in one basket. I do support ethanol production, but we need to be much more cautious than the 'full-bore' approach of the Blagojevich administration. There are genuine concerns over ethanol production. For instance, many analysts have concluded that it takes almost as much -- or even more --petroleum-based energy to create the ethanol as the amount of energy contained in it. There are also genuine concerns over both water consumption and water pollution from existing plants."

"Frankly, I have to wonder whether the incumbent Governor's enthusiasm for ethanol might just reflect the $50,000 campaign contribution he received from Archer Daniels Midland on May 24th, rather than him suddenly 'getting religion' about renewable energy."

Blagojevich does not have a good record on keeping his environmental promises, Whitney observed. "Rod Blagojevich promised in 2002 that he would push sustainable energy sources like bio-diesel and wind power - and yet only two-tenths of one percent of our State's energy needs are now being provided by such sources. In fact, he raided the Renewable Energy Resources Trust Fund for $9.5 million and the Energy Efficiency Trust Fund for $3 million, to put into the general fund, so that he can continue to brag that he (supposedly) balanced the budget without raising taxes. So I think Illinois voters are justified in being a bit skeptical over the latest round of grandiose promises."
Whitney's full plan can be found at: whitneyforgov.org/articles/EnergyPolicy.htm
 
 

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