FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Juliana Pino, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, jpino@lvejo.org, 312-344-3143
Illinois House Passes Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, Nation-Leading Clean Energy Bill that Prioritizes Disadvantaged Communities
SPRINGFIELD, IL (Sept. 9, 2021) — The Illinois House of Representatives advanced the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) today that can transform the state’s power and transportation sectors. An agreement was reached after months of negotiations with community, environmental, labor, consumer, and business groups.
The bill would double the state’s investment in renewable energy, with a target of 40 percent renewable energy by 2030 and includes a new equity block in the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. The state’s community solar programs (Adjustable Block and Solar for All) would increase to $50 million a year. Investments in renewable energy would total around $10 billion. The bill commits $78 million a year over the next decade to expanding electric vehicle access with 45 percent of the benefits going to environmental justice and economically disadvantaged communities.
The legislation includes a plan to phase out fossil fuels from the state’s power sector by 2045, with retirement tiers for coal and gas plants based in part on plants’ proximity to environmental justice communities and local pollution impacts. This approach marks an important shift in climate policy that prioritizes emissions reductions first from plants with the worst environmental justice impacts rather than a singular focus on greenhouse gas emissions.
Critically, the package creates the Energy Transition Assistance Fund to allocate $180 million annually through 2045 to a suite of economic justice and equity programs to create and train for jobs where they are needed most, with Black and brown residents and frontline communities at the core, to ensure those eligible can actually access these opportunities, and to accelerate wealth building in contractor development and energy sovereignty. The package also provides for comprehensive just transition programs for communities where fossil plants are located, including a Displaced Worker Bill of Rights and programs to give communities resources, notice of closures, and agency in the transition process.
Low-income utility consumer protections such as eliminating late fees and a possible route to future adoption of discounted rates for those who cannot afford bills also feature in the bill, alongside extension of energy efficiency goals through 2040 and expansion of low-income weatherization programs.
LVEJO applauds the leadership and support of Governor Pritzker, Deputy Governor Mitchell, House Speaker Welch, Leader Evans, Leader Gabel, Rep. Williams, Rep. Gonzalez Jr., their teams, and all who moved the bill in the House today. LVEJO strongly urges the Senate to follow suit.
The following is a quote from Juliana Pino, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization Policy Director:
“We cannot fight for a livable present or future without immediate, comprehensive action on climate that addresses pollution and builds wealth in the Black and brown communities hit first and worst by systemic and environmental racism, perilous economic divestment, and the devastating public health consequences of the climate emergency driven by fossil fuels.”
“The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act centers equity and justice at its core. This bill can truly deliver on environmental and climate justice for Illinois communities in the years to come.”
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