Full Text of HR0189 99th General Assembly
HR0189 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has previously | 3 | | established the Clean Coal FutureGen for
Illinois Act of 2011, | 4 | | recognizing that the FutureGen Project is a first-of-its-kind | 5 | | research project to
permanently sequester underground captured | 6 | | CO2 emissions from: (1) a coal-fueled power
plant that uses as | 7 | | its primary fuel source high-volatile bituminous rank coal with | 8 | | greater than 1.7
pounds of sulfur per million btu content; or | 9 | | (2) other approved and permitted captured CO2
sources in the | 10 | | State of Illinois; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The FutureGen Project would have benefits to the | 12 | | economy and environment of
Illinois; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The State is committed to: (1) providing the | 14 | | non-profit FutureGen Alliance with
adequate liability | 15 | | protection and permitting certainty to facilitate the siting of | 16 | | the FutureGen
Project in the State of Illinois; (2) providing | 17 | | the State of Illinois certain financial benefits from
| 18 | | environmental attributes for the project; and (3) helping | 19 | | secure over $1 billion in federal funding
for the project; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The General Assembly found and determined that: | 21 | | (1) human-induced greenhouse gas emissions have been | 22 | | identified as contributing to global
warming, the effects of |
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| 1 | | which pose a threat to public health and safety and the economy | 2 | | of the
State of Illinois;
(2) in order to meet the energy needs | 3 | | of the State of Illinois, keep its economy strong and
protect | 4 | | the environment while reducing its contribution to | 5 | | human-induced greenhouse gas
emissions, the State of Illinois | 6 | | must be a leader in developing new low-carbon technologies;
(3) | 7 | | carbon capture and storage is a low-carbon technology that | 8 | | involves capturing the captured
CO2 from fossil fuel energy | 9 | | electric generating units and other industrial facilities and | 10 | | injecting it
into secure geologic strata for permanent storage;
| 11 | | (4) the FutureGen Project is a public-private partnership | 12 | | between the federal Department of
Energy, the FutureGen | 13 | | Alliance, and other partners that proposes to use this new | 14 | | technology as
part of a plan to transport and store captured | 15 | | CO2 from a coal-fueled power plant that uses as
its primary | 16 | | fuel source high-volatile bituminous rank coal with greater | 17 | | than 1.7 pounds of sulfur
per million btu content and other | 18 | | captured CO2 sources that are approved by the appropriate
State | 19 | | of Illinois agency and permitted in the State of Illinois;
(5) | 20 | | the FutureGen Project will help ensure the long-term viability | 21 | | of Illinois Basin coal as a
major energy source in the State of | 22 | | Illinois and throughout the nation and represents a
significant | 23 | | step in the State of Illinois' efforts to become a | 24 | | self-sufficient, clean energy producer;
(6) the FutureGen | 25 | | Project provides an opportunity for the State of Illinois to | 26 | | partner with the
Federal Department of Energy, the FutureGen |
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| 1 | | Alliance, and other partners in the development
of these | 2 | | innovative clean-coal technologies;
(7) the FutureGen Project | 3 | | will make the State of Illinois a center for developing and | 4 | | refining
clean coal technology and carbon capture and storage, | 5 | | and will result in the development of
new technologies designed | 6 | | to improve the efficiency of the energy industry that will be
| 7 | | replicated worldwide; (8) the FutureGen Project is an important | 8 | | coal development and conversion project that will
create jobs | 9 | | in the State of Illinois during the construction and operations | 10 | | phases, contribute to
the overall economy of the State of | 11 | | Illinois and help reinvigorate the Illinois Basin coal | 12 | | industry;
and
(9) the FutureGen Project and the property | 13 | | necessary for the FutureGen Project serve a
substantial public | 14 | | purpose as its advanced clean-coal electricity generation, | 15 | | advanced
emissions control and carbon capture and storage | 16 | | technologies will benefit the citizens of the
State of | 17 | | Illinois; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy has decided | 19 | | not to provide the $1 billion it
had committed to the project; | 20 | | and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The project would generate tremendous economic | 22 | | opportunity for the State of Illinois and is expected to be the | 23 | | focus of global attention; researchers and visitors
from around | 24 | | the world would visit to learn about its operation so that they |
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| 1 | | can replicate those
lessons learned around the globe; | 2 | | therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 4 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 5 | | urge the United States Department of Energy to provide the $1 | 6 | | billion previously committed to the FutureGen project to assure | 7 | | this project will move forward; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 | | presented to the United States
Department of Energy, the United | 10 | | States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois
| 11 | | Environmental Protection Agency.
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