Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Act would spur clean energy wind project


 Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Act would spur clean energy wind project
 
By Tia Carol Jones
Illinois State Representative Marcus Evans introduced HB 4543 in January 2022. The Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Pilot Program Act would be a step in moving Illinois toward more clean energy.

The HB4543 creates the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Fund as a special fund in the Illinois Treasury. Those funds would be used by the Department of Commerce and Economic Development to facilitate work on an offshore wind project.

Clean Energy is created without coal or using fossil fuels. Part of the act would create an offshore wind project, which Illinois power agencies would be directed to buy their power from.

On Sept. 15th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the launch of actions to develop new, floating offshore wind platforms. According to the release, “The President set a bold goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes with clean energy, support 77,000 jobs, and spur private investment up and down the supply chain.”

In the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden secured clean energy tax credits.  “If they’re going to put money out there for wind development, that means somebody is going to do it, so let’s do it here in Illinois,” Evans said.

Representative Evans, along with Illinois State Senator Robert Peters hosted a meeting to discuss the potential of having an offshore wind project in Lake Michigan, near the South Chicago community. Evans believes that water near South Chicago is a prime location for the offshore wind project. Evans acknowledges that finding cleaner ways to produce energy is essential to moving into the future.

Representative Evans believes the wind project will bring economic development, with a variety of industries that will be created with the project.  “We need more people in the Black community talking about energy and the energy sector, having our young people think about jobs and careers in the industry,” Evans said.

State Senator Peters is the chief sponsor of theHB691, bill in the Illinois Senate.

 “For a long time, there have been people in Illinois who wanted offshore wind, and there have been people who organized around that for a long time. At the same time, there have been people who have been organizing around equitable economic investment, particularly on the South sides of Chicago … This is a combination of all those different strands of organizing coming together,” Peters said.

State Senator Peters said the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Pilot Program Act would create clean energy, good union jobs, and would make sure it is equitably done.  As the country and the State of Illinois move away from dirty energy sectors to clean energy sectors, Illinois wants to be a clean energy leader. The goal is to ensure that clean energy production, location and the jobs that come along with that happen in Black and Brown communities.

“When you think about the Southeast side and you think about the marriage of the Industrial Revolution and the Environmental Justice Revolution, that’s why the Southeast side is somewhere I think is vitally important that we see projects like this happen,” Peters said, adding that often when there are conversations about what needs to happen in the city, the Southeast side of Chicago is forgotten.

Peters described the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Act as an important door opening opportunity to bring this project to the community.  There are conversations with community residents, decision makers in labor and unions and the environmental justice movement to ensure everyone is informed about this opportunity. The next step is to vote on and make the act a law in Springfield.

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