A glaring gap in that press coverage needs to be filled. Democratic candidate Deirdre "DK" Hirner was, until recently, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group. The name certainly sounds environmental and a recent column blandly describes it as a group "which helps businesses work with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency."
The Peoria Journal Starr's first coverage of her campaign went further, describing it as an "environmental advocacy organization." It makes me wonder what she's telling reporters about her job.
The Environmental Regulatory Group is a Chamber of Commerce front group run by the worst polluters in Illinois. The Illinois Chamber website tells us that IERG was started for Chamber members to "represent business interests" in environmental regulation.
Their statement of purpose says they exist to "advance the interests of its Members, which include companies engaged in
industry, commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, trade, energy and transportation." It doesn't mention anything about protecting the environment.
The IERG membership list is a roster of names usually seen in the news for EPA violations and reports on extreme environmental hazards. It includes operators of the state's dirtiest coal plants like Dynegy Midwest Generation, along with friendly tree-hugging names like ADM, Peabody, ExxonMobil, and Dow Chemical. Small business owners are noticeably absent from the list.
The Chamber and IERG websites are full of the usual buzzwords about favoring "balanced" and "reasonable" regulation. But, even a casual glance at IERG's activity tells the real story of their working closely with the Chamber to fight environmental protections.
An Illinois Chamber update in 2006 argued against new mercury rules with the usual scare tactics about lost jobs. The mercury rule was a top priority of environmental groups and eventually became law. Hirner brags in the update that IERG, "as affiliate of the Illinois Chamber," pushed to weaken regulation of mercury by creating more exemptions. Similarly, their annual report includes a long list of proposed rules they helped to weaken or defeat while "advocating for industry."
Earlier this year, Hirner wrote a letter to the editor opposing clean energy legislation supported by many environmental groups. She argued that we should have federal, rather than state regulation. Her counterparts at the US Chamber in Washington argue against federal regulation by claiming it's better to have an international treaty. In every situation, the Chamber is always sure that some other governmental body is the right one to take action.
Hirner avoids talk of specific issues in news articles by saying that she simply wants to serve the interests of the public. The burden is on her to convince voters why she will serve the public interest after years of helping major corporate polluters fight against it.
My guess is that her nomination would give a huge boost to Green Party candidate Sheldon Schafer and offer no threat to Aaron Schock.