Taylorville Coal Plant

Earlier this year I went with company officials to visit the site of a new coal gasification plant planned near Taylorville. The Illinois EPA issued a permit for the plant today and Sierra Club state director Jack Darin released a statement, which is also posted on his blog.

Part of the statement mentions Springfield:

Illinois coal can also be a part of the solution if new plants are linked to major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Last year in Springfield, just up the road from Taylorville, City Water Light and Power (CWLP) was planning to build a 200MW power plant for their city customers. We worked with CWLP to forge an agreement to offset the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions through a creative package of programs, including purchasing 120MW of wind power, and investing $400,000 into a city wide energy efficiency program.

So far, this has not been the case with the Tenaska project. Tenaska does not have a plan to deal with the massive increases in global warming pollution that would come from their plant. Such a plan could include offsetting carbon emissions through retiring existing, dirtier plants, investing in renewables or efficiency, or potentially sequestering their carbon underground, although there are still many questions about the viability of carbon sequestration.

Jack is posting on his blog more often lately and he also has two posts about the "iSpace" plan currently being considered by the state that would "invest $100 million per year in new places across the state to hunt, hike, play, bike, relax, absorb floodwater, purify drinking water, and pass our natural heritage along to future generations."

The resolution has 70 co-sponsors, including Springfield area Representatives Rich Brauer and Raymond Poe.