Jennifer Walling runs an organization that speaks for over 100 environmental groups in Springfield. Marc Poulos is a political quarterback for organized labor.
“I feel like we both understand that we’re going to get more done if we’re aligned,” said Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. “We may as well be on the same page instead of fighting each other and wasting resources.”
She said the state needs such a rapprochement in part because President-elect Donald Trump may be less likely than his predecessor to help deep-blue Illinois.
As part of the overall transit debate, Poulos said he’ll propose a pilot program to tax Illinoisans for bridge and road repairs based on how many miles they drive rather than how much fuel they buy.
For example, unlike Walling and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Poulos said he’s not sold on merging the CTA, Metra, and PACE into a single agency, since this would jeopardize dozens of existing union contracts.
Once these road taxes are protected, Poulos said, he’ll happily embrace California-style mandates for electric cars and trucks.
Walling, who has long sought such mandates to reduce toxic emissions, called Poulos’ proposals a helpful step in that direction.
Walling said she opposes any plan that would give private investors the power to set tolls for drivers and transit riders. In a nod toward her position, Poulos said he doesn’t need such control as long as he gets a return on his investment.
On natural gas, Walling and Poulos are far apart.
For example, Walling wants to block Peoples Gas from using even more ratepayer money to replace its decaying natural gas pipelines. She wants Chicago to join 50 other cities in moving toward electricity for home heating and cooling instead.
Both Walling and Poulos said they’ll support a bill in the spring legislative session to provide funding for these networks and the associated investments in building weatherization and thermal efficiency that they require.
Poulos has one idea that Walling rejects because it would commit the state to burning more fossil fuel, not less.
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