By: Ashley Dragan

What does Illinois Senate Bill 2408 Say?

In recent years, many states have moved towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, which has caused the coal industry to take some hits.[i] On September 15, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzer signed senate bill 2408, a state-level clean energy plan with green implications for Illinois.[ii] This bill pushes the state to move to one-hundred percent clean energy by 2050.[iii] To reach such a highly ambitious goal, privately-owned coal plants in Illinois will be forced to close by 2030 and municipally-owned coal plants by 2045.[iv] Further, subsidies were granted in the bill to convert coal-fired power plants to solar power plants or energy storage facilities.[v] Although this bill has important implications for creating a renewable and clean energy future, and it could devastate the coal industry.[vi]

Why the push for a coal-less future?

Environmentalists have been pushing to phase out coal energy sources due to the devastating effects of climate change.[vii] Coal is cheap, abundant, and the largest energy source worldwide, but it is also the most polluting fossil fuel.[viii] Coal combustion causes several harmful gases to be emitted, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide.[ix] The release of these gases into the environment can create problematic environmental repercussions such as acid rain, water contamination, and forest damage.[x] These gases also prove harmful to individuals’ health by causing respiratory illnesses and lung disease.[xi] Hence why senate bill 2408 pushes Illinois to completely embrace these renewable sources of energy, including solar and wind power, as a means of pushing for a massive reduction in carbon emissions, which has the potential to create a much-needed greener future.[xii] These renewable energy technologies are now widely available, and thus, these energy sources could easily replace the need for coal.[xiii]

The Negative Impact on Coal Workers and the Economy

Despite the positive implications of transitioning from coal-produced energy, this bill will create issues when wiping out the coal industry itself and the workers within it due to the surplus of coal in Illinois, the positive impact coal has on Illinois’ economy, and the loss of employment for individuals who work in the coal industry.[xiv] Data taken in 2016 showed that the coal industry alone employed over 33,000 Illinoisians.[xv] Also, in some communities in Southern Illinois, approximately twenty-three percent of total personal income stems from coal-related employment.[xvi] Therefore, closing coal plants in these areas could have potentially devastating economic effects.[xvii] Thus, significant opposition to the bill has stemmed from labor unions that represent coal workers as the closure of these plants would terminate jobs all over the state.[xviii]

Further, Illinois makes up about fifteen percent of the nation’s coal reserves and accounts for around seven percent of total U.S. coal production.[xix] Domestically, thirteen states rely on Illinois for coal to generate electricity.[xx] Therefore, limiting coal extraction and usage could decrease the profits from Illinois’ multi-million dollar coal industry while forcing other states to look elsewhere for their energy source.[xxi] At the community level, two Illinois communities only twenty miles apart, who have already experienced coal plant closures, have seen a two million dollar loss in property taxes, an approximately $950,000 reduction in school district funding, and the loss of 135 jobs.[xxii] Thus, despite the positive impact that Illinois senate bill 2408 may have on the environment, there is potential that this bill causes some economic pitfalls.[xxiii]

The Need for a Greener Future with Employment for Coal Workers

Due to the negative impact coal-burning has had on climate change, it is clear there is a need for a change in energy sources.[xxiv] However, making this shift may be tricky considering coal-burning power plant equipment is not always reusable, and hard labor would be required to convert these facilities.[xxv] Further, Illinois may lose out on coal exportation profits, and many jobs may be at stake.[xxvi] However, the loss of some jobs may be partially resolved by Illinois senate bill 2408.[xxvii] The Illinois legislature recognized this issue might arise and thus, vowed to give $80 million workforce development programs.[xxviii] Some of this funding will be allocated explicitly to ensuring minority populations will be able to enter the renewable energy workforce.[xxix] Thus, there is the possibility for new workers to join the renewable energy workforce; however, the existing infrastructure and energy labor workforce will need to play a critical role in the new renewable energy landscape, and the state should help find employment for those who will be terminated due to the closure of coal plants, or there could be devastating effects at community and familial levels.[xxx]

Thus, if the Illinois legislature is truly able to create and maintain jobs in the energy field, this bill will likely be a huge success; however, there still may be some drawbacks considering the loss of jobs, and the loss of income, that no longer utilizing coal energy may have on the Illinois economy.[xxxi] It is also essential to consider the potential impact the same legislation would have in states like Kentucky and West Virginia, where the coal industry plays a vital role in the economy and resorting to new energy sources could be detrimental to the state.[xxxii] Overall, Illinois senate bill 2408 contains some important implications for helping combat climate change but creating a greener state will likely come with a trade-off that may negatively impact the state’s critical economic aspects that stem from the coal industry.[xxxiii]

[i] Ty Jagerson, Long-Duration Energy Storage: A Strategy for Retiring Coal Plants, Power (June 29, 2021), https://www.powermag.com/long-duration-energy-storage-a-strategy-for-retiring-coal-plants/ [https://perma.cc/TW39-SBR2].

[ii] S.B. 2408, 102nd Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ill. 2021).

[iii] Clark Mindock, Illinois Gov. Signs Clean Energy Law Phasing Out Coal, Law360 (Sept. 15, 2021, 6:18 PM), https://www.law360.com/articles/1422008/illinois-gov-signs-clean-energy-law-phasing-out-coal [https://perma.cc/3BZE-CQUJ].

[iv] Id.

[v] See Jerry Nowicki, Massive Energy Bill Becomes Law, Investing Billions Between Renewable Nuclear Sectors, Ill. Newsroom (Sept. 15, 2021), https://illinoisnewsroom.org/massive-energy-bill-becomes-law-investing-billions-between-renewable-nuclear-sectors/ [https://perma.cc/T3H3-DCDD].

[vi] See Id.

[vii] Somini Sengupta, The World Needs to Quit Coal. Why Is It So Hard?, N.Y. Times (Nov. 24, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/climate/coal-global-warming.html [https://perma.cc/JMK2-EU8Y].

[viii] See id.

[ix] Coal Explained: Coal and the Environment, U.S. Energy Info. Admin., https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/coal-and-the-environment.php (last updated Dec. 1, 2020) [https://perma.cc/M4L5-6VQF].

[x] Why We Need to Quit Coal, Rainforest Action Network, https://www.ran.org/why_we_need_to_quit_coal/#:~:text=The%20age%20of%20coal%20is%20over.%20We%20now,countless%20ways.%20Coal%20also%20threatens%20our%20economic%20security (last visited Sept. 28, 2021) [https://perma.cc/S6S9-M8EQ].

[xi] Coal Explined: Coal and the Environment, Supra note ix.

[xii] Clark Mindock, Supra note iii.

[xiii] See Coal: Illinois’ Black Treasure, Ill. St. Geological Surv. Prairie Res. Inst., https://isgs.illinois.edu/outreach/geology-resources/coal-illinois-black-treasure#:~:text=Coal%3A%20Illinois%27%20Black%20Treasure%20Beneath%20much%20of%20Illinois,that%20is%20now%20Illinois%20was%20near%20the%20equator (last visited Sept. 28, 2021) [https://perma.cc/LLW7-D2TA].

[xiv] State Economic Impacts – Coal, Count On Coal, https://www.countoncoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/STATE-PROFILES.pdf (last visited Sept. 28, 2021) [https://perma.cc/M62T-9P2D].

[xv] Coal and the Illinois Economy, Off. Coal Dev. and Marketing., http://coaleducation.org/lessons/sec/Illinois/ilecon.htm (last visited Sept. 28, 2021) [https://perma.cc/KN7B-R49R].

[xvi] Id.

[xvii] Id.

[xviii] Kari Lydersen, Illinois Coal plants are closing even as fossil fuel objections stall energy bill again, Energy News Network (June 21, 2021), https://energynews.us/2021/06/21/illinois-coal-plants-are-closing-even-as-fossil-fuel-objections-stall-energy-bill-again/ [https://perma.cc/DKU4-J6P4].

[xix] Profile Analysis, U.S. Energy Info. Admin., https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=IL (last updated June 17, 2021), [https://perma.cc/947V7-A9BE].

[xx] Id.

[xxi] Coal and the Illinois Economy, Supra note xvi.

[xxii] Ty Jagerson, Supra note i.

[xxiii] See id.

[xxiv] See Somini Sengupta, Supra note vii.

[xxv] Ty Jagerson, Supra note i.

[xxvi] See id.

[xxvii] Clark Mindock, Supra note iii.

[xxviii] Id.

[xxix] Id.

[xxx] See Ty Jagerson, Supra note i.

[xxxi] See id.; See also Ty Jagerson, Supra note iii.

[xxxii] Brad Plumer, Here’s why Central Appalachia’s coal industry is dying, Wash. Post (Nov. 3, 2013), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/11/04/heres-why-central-appalachias-coal-industry-is-dying/ [https://perma.cc/B499-QFG6].

[xxxiii] See Ty Jagerson, Supra note iii.