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IEC Blog

Ammons Feature

Legislator Feature: State Representative Carol Ammons

IEC is excited to release our first “Legislator Feature” on our blog! Through this series, we hope to share with our supporters how legislators think about environmental issues, and what areas they are specifically interested in. For this entry, we are pleased to interview State Representative Carol Ammons. Representative Carol Ammons is serving her second term as state representative of the 103rd District, which includes Champaign-Urbana. Previously, Rep. Ammons served as a member of the Urbana City Council and Champaign County Board. IEC has been fortunate to work with Rep. Ammons on legislation to protect the Mahomet Aquifer, bolster local and sustainable food, and grow the clean energy economy. IEC is grateful to Rep. Ammons for taking the time to share her thoughts on environmental issues with IEC Legislative Director Colleen Smith: What is the most memorable environmental bill you’ve worked on?One of my first bills banned the dumping of

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November 27, 2017

Why the Race for Attorney General Matters for Environmentalists

By Jen WallingExecutive Director, Illinois Environmental Council I’ve never imagined an Illinois where Lisa Madigan was no longer attorney general. She has been an immutable figure on the Illinois political landscape for two decades, and a reliable decision-maker and partner on many of the environmental community’s campaigns. When embarking on a campaign, we begin by assessing potential opponents, allies, and other stakeholders. Perhaps it has been taken for granted that nearly every time we have performed this analysis over the past twenty years, we have been able to add the AG to the ally column. I am proud to say that I’ve personally worked with the staff of the attorney general’s office to keep lead out of children’s drinking water, petroleum coke out of people’s lungs, and animal wastes out of drinking water. We’ve worked to regulate high volume hydraulic fracturing, provide people with the right to file citizen suits,

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November 15, 2017

Affiliate Feature: HeartLands Conservancy

By Mary VandervordPresident/CEO, HeartLands Conservancy What’s the mission of your organization?To sustain and enrich the diverse environmental resources of southwestern Illinois. To accomplish our mission HLC works with individuals, local governments, state and federal agencies, and other organizations on three priorities: conservation of open space, building greener communities, and engaging people with nature. Where in Illinois is a majority of your work and your members?We primarily serve southwestern Illinois counties of Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Bond, Clinton, Washington, and Randolph. This area is known as the St. Louis “Metro East.” Our reach also extends farther south to include Perry, Jackson, Union, and Alexander Counties. What are you current campaigns? Lots of things going on. We are working with the City of Edwardsville in Madison County to protect an threatened old growth forest – Bohm Woods Nature Preserve. We are also working on water quality and flood mitigation plans for 4

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October 5, 2017

2017 Environmental Leadership Dinner in Review

AG Madigan, President Preckwinkle among award winners at the 2017 Environmental Leadership Dinner This past Wednesday, September 27th, IEC hosted our 2017 Environmental Leadership Dinner. We were thrilled to be joined by nearly 400 advocates, affiliates, and elected officials who support policies and programs that protect the environment and grow our clean energy economy. You can view some great pictures from the event here. Recipients of our 2017 Environmental Leadership awards represent officials from several levels of government from areas throughout Illinois. Leading up to the dinner, we asked our award winners to answer a few questions about how they work to protect the environment in their respective roles: Attorney General Lisa Madigan AG Madigan was honored for the vital role she and her office played in creating and passing the Preventing Lead in Drinking Water Act. Since becoming law earlier this year, this legilsation is already protecting Illinois school

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September 29, 2017

Unprecedented number of retirements include many environmental champions

By Colleen SmithLegislative Director, Illinois Environmental Council Many of the environmental community’s top legislative champions will not be returning to the Illinois General Assembly for another term. Just yesterday, we heard the devastating news that Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a winner of IEC’s lifetime achievement award for her environmental leadership, will not run for re-election and today, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that she would not be seeking reelection. Since the beginning of this year, 25 members of the General Assembly have resigned or announced they will not be seeking re-election. Of these, 12 received a 100% on IEC’s 2017 Environmental Scorecard and another 14 have scored 100% at some point during their tenure. Losing these environmental champions means we are now facing a crisis of leadership in the legislature. The Illinois Legislative Green Caucus was formed by Rep. Karen May and Rep. Mike Fortner in 2009 for the

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September 15, 2017

Illinois Bobcat Hunting Program is Flawed

By Jennifer WallingExecutive Director, IEC Governor Rauner’s Illinois Department of Natural Resources recently increased the number of bobcat hunting permits from 500 to 1,000 for the upcoming season. The announcement of an increase in the number of permits was issued despite the fact that there is currently a bill sitting on the Governor’s desk that would restrict the location and number of bobcats that can be hunted. Governor Rauner has two weeks to sign HB3399, which would ban bobcat hunting in over 35 counties and restrict the number that can be hunted to 350 in the upcoming hunting season. This announcement concerning the increase in permits is especially troubling now, considering this past legislative session Senator Don Harmon secured an agreement between the IEC, Humane Society of the United States, the Trappers Associations, IDNR, Republicans, and Democrats that offers protections to bobcats in vulnerable areas. IDNR is actively advertising its

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September 13, 2017

The High Cost of Cheap Meat

As an organization that has been working to solve the pollution crisis caused by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Illinois for years, we applaud the Chicago Tribune’s recent in-depth investigative report on large hog confinements. Few could read this piece without gasping at the stories of environmental pollution, animal abuse, and destruction of rural life and property rights. Fortunately, our Governor and state legislators can fix many of these issues with common sense approaches, and they should start today. First, Governor Rauner and the Illinois EPA (IEPA) could immediately propose and seek to pass rules that require registration of all livestock operations. As reported, there is no way in Illinois to even tell where these facilities are located. The IEPA could also – under existing laws – begin requiring water protection permits (NPDES permits) from more CAFOs. In addition, legislation and regulations should be enacted to require all large

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August 9, 2016