Progress Illinois

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Great Lakes Compact, an eight state agreement designed to protect water from the lakes from being diverted outside the region. Lawmakers have been trying to fast-track approval of the compact, which has bipartisan support, including from President Bush. There had been some concern that legislators from drought-prone regions of the country would find fault with the conservation agreement, but so far that does not appear to be the case:

House and Senate leaders from the region have said they are not aware of any significant opposition to the plan, which is common among states. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia currently belong to at least one interstate water compact, and many states belong to more than one.

The question that remains is just how effective the compact will be. With confidence high over its prospects, some environmentalists and lawmakers are questioning whether it will do enough to prohibit the "commercialization" of Great Lakes water:

Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak [D-MI] has spoken out with concerns that the compact's failure to regulate the export of water in containers smaller than 5.7 gallons is a loophole that could open up vast tracts of Michigan water to commercialization.

Continue reading »

The Democratic National Convention opened in Denver, Colorado with a prayer from the Reverend James J. Keane reminding participants that "the security of a people [...] depends more on high virtue than in strength of arms." The anti-war sentiment was appreciated by those Democrats who opposed the ongoing U.S. involvement in a military conflict across the globe.

Of course, that war was in the Philippines and the speech took place 100 years ago. It was the last time Democrats (then called the National Democracy Party) gathered in Denver to choose a presidential candidate.

In the lead up to this summer's conventions, Chicago-based presidential historian Craig Sautter has posted the histories of the last Democratic convention in Denver (1908) and the last Republican Convention in Minneapolis (1892). Both are worth a read, illuminating how much the parties and the nation have (or have not) evolved in the intervening century. One Democratic speaker, for example, reminded the Denver crowd of the threat of unchecked corporate power on American democracy, observing that the U.S. had "one set of morality for individuals, another less exacting standard of morals for corporations." Telecom immunity, anyone?

Still, many things have gotten better. An eight-hour work day was included in the Democratic platform the last time we went to Denver. It took another eight years to get it passed for railroad workers at the federal level.   Twenty-two years after that came the Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing a minimum wage and 40-hour work week.  It's one we can all be proud of.

NOTE: The final paragraph has been updated to provide more specific information about federal legislation establishing an eight-hour work day. 

British Petroleum announced this week that it would go ahead with the $3.8 billion expansion of its oil refinery in Whiting, IN, despite legal challenges from environmental groups. The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit alleging that emissions from the expanded facility will violate the Clean Air Act.

Ironically, the same day news broke about BP's expansion plans, a federal judge sided with the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in forcing Apex Oil Company to clean up ground pollution caused by its refinery in Hartford, IL:

The contamination posed "imminent and substantial endangerment" to humans and the environment under a federal law known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Herndon ruled Monday out of the Southern District of Illinois. [...]

More than one million gallons of leaded gasoline and other petroleum products leaked into the ground, the lawsuit said. For years Hartford residents had to evacuate when vapors from contamination seeped into homes.

In addition to the EPA lawsuit, oil companies in Hartford are being confronted by a multitude of private lawsuits, as well as one from the village itself.

The fact that polluters are being held accountable here in Illinois is a good sign. But the situation in Hartford should have never occurred. Will we one day be saying the same thing about Whiting?

Sen. Dick Durbin introduced legislation yesterday intended to reinvigorate the American rail industry and answer the growing demand placed on Amtrak as rail travel becomes more popular (and practical). Durbin's office is touting the Train CARS Act as a major re-imagining of U.S. domestic travel:

The Train CARS Act envisions a Twenty-First Century Rail system that makes flying short distances a thing of the past with a high-speed rail system rooted in major metropolitan areas like Chicago. The most immediate obstacle in the way of making this vision a reality is the lack of passenger rail train cars and equipment [...]

The Train CARS Act provides funding to encourage manufacturers currently supplying passenger rail cars overseas to bring their modern design and manufacturing expertise to the U.S. and open manufacturing facilities here to meet growing demand. The bill also provides a tax incentive for private, domestic businesses to re-enter the passenger rail equipment business and rebuild facilities and train cars here in the U.S.

Amtrak set records last May both for the number of passengers it carried and for the amount of tickets it sold. This is particularly impressive considering that May is usually a slow month for Amtrak. As the New York Times recently reported, increased demand is a mixed blessing for a national rail system that has suffered from decades of under-use and financial neglect:

“We’re starting to bump up against our own capacity constraints,” said R. Clifford Black, a spokesman for Amtrak.

The problem is that rail has shriveled. The number of “passenger miles” traveled on intercity rail has dropped by about two-thirds since 1960, and the companies that build rail cars and locomotives have also shrunk, making it hard to expand.

In the last year, the state of Illinois has aggressively pushed for stricter standards against air pollution at the national level. That push has now put us at odds with one of our neighbors across the Mississippi. Today the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports how Missouri's Department of National Resources (DNR) is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to weaken ozone regulations. Meanwhile, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is suing to have those regulations strengthened.

Here's the background: in March, the EPA lowered the standard of acceptable ozone pollution to 0.075 parts-per-million from 0.084 parts-per-million. The problem with the new limit is that the EPA's own scientists found it still allowed for a dangerous level of pollution. In response, Madigan -- along with the AGs of New York, California, Oregon, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania -- signed a petition demanding that the regulations fall in line with the scientists' recommendations:

"It is simply unacceptable for EPA to ignore its own science advisory committee and set the new ozone standard at a level that will make breathing more difficult for children, seniors, people who work outdoors and those who already suffer from chronic lung disease," [Madigan] said.

Fearing that the new rules may hurt local industries, the Missouri DNR took the opposite position, joining the state of Mississippi in suing the EPA to bring the ozone limit back to pre-March standards.

Only time will tell whether either lawsuit will succeed, but with over a dozen other states backing her petition, Madigan certainly has the numbers on her side. Another good sign for the Illinois-backed suit? Missouri's own Attorney General Jay Nixon does not support his state's legal challenge. The DNR asked him to back the suit but he refused, saying that "the new [EPA] standard is an effort to protect public health" and pointing out that the agency had failed to provide any factual basis for its suit.

It's not uncommon for an unpopular politician to take a "shoot the messenger" stance against the media. Last spring when Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was embroiled in controversy over his hiring of friends and family he dismissed the accusations against him, saying that he was the victim of an overzealous local press. Stroger said he would respond to complaints about nepotism (and the county tax hike) not by re-evaluating county administration or sitting down with his political opponents, but through a massive public relations push. Here's how he laid it out in an interview with CBS2's Mike Flannery:

"I don't think that most people understand the county and what we do. We will try to let them know in the future. We are working on a cable station. We'll be working on passing out little newsletters about what is happening in the county, and that has also been one of the political issues."

In our coverage of Stroger's comments, we pointed to his cable access show -- "A Look Inside Cook County" -- as a sign of things to come.

But now it appears that one of the board president's efforts to re-shape the media landscape has ended badly. Very badly. Last November, the Stroger administration gave $24,999 to a publishing company to produce Cook County magazine, which would provide "regular, positive press -- to counter-balance negative press often found in the mainstream media." As the Sun-Times notes, $24,999 is "one dollar under the amount that would have required the approval of the full Cook County Board."

Unfortunately for Stroger, the magazine's first issue -- which features a profile of his father and predecessor John Stroger -- will never see the light of day.

Continue reading »

The backlog of clemency petitions waiting for a decision from the Illinois governor's office has been in and out of the media spotlight for a couple of years. All told there have been around 3000 requests for clemency during Gov. Rod Blagojevich's tenure. Only 82 requests have been granted and nearly 2000 have not been addressed. Recently, Blagojevich pardoned 19 former convicts, but even that move drew criticism as at least one of the men pardoned had died years earlier.

Today, NPR's Morning Edition carried an interesting piece on a lawsuit filed against the governor by a group of convicted felons who say they've waited too long for a hearing. The suit is being spearheaded by the Cabrini Green Legal Clinic which argues that convicts shouldn't have to wait more than six months before they get an answer. You can listen to the full story here.

As some observers noted during the severe Midwestern flooding last month, global warming carries a high price tag for certain regions of the country. A groups of studies out this week from the University of Maryland backs up this assertion, predicting that climate change will in the long term cost the state of Illinois billions of dollars. Most of the cost will come in the form of damage to the state's water systems. Experts predict that increased warming will simultaneously cause flooding in much of the state and slowly lower water levels in the Great Lakes. This seemingly paradoxical trend spells trouble for numerous local industries:

These climatic changes will likely undermine an important shipping route for the economically critical manufacturing sector. Infrastructure damages will likely amplify from more frequent flooding, which will likely impact the public highway system, as well. The agricultural sector is projected to face increased costs from greater soil erosion and runoff, as well as the growing need for expensive irrigation. Water supplies throughout the state may be exposed to more contaminants requiring greater water treatment costs. Human health impacts are also expected.

Illinois was one of eight states in which researchers examind the potential economic effects of global warming. You can find all the reports here and download the full study here (PDF).

Image courtesy of NOAA. 

The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) released a report this month outlining which states are most vulnerable to the rising price of oil, and which are doing the most to ween themselves off oil dependence. All told, the news is encouraging for Illinois, though there is plenty of room for improvement.

The NRDC finds that the Prairie State is better off than 35 other states in terms how hard it has been hit by skyrocketing crude costs. These rankings are determined by pinpointing the percentage of an average citizen's annual income devoted to fuel costs. Generally, people spend more on gas in rural states, states with more farming, and states with less public transportation. Poorer states are also among the hardest hit, as residents generally spend a greater proportion of their incomes on oil.

According to the report, the average Illinois resident spends $1933.79 a year on gas, approximately 4.8 percent of their annual income. Below is a list of the ten worst hit states and how they ranked last year. Two of our neighboring states, Indiana and Iowa have found themselves in much worse shape as prices have gone up:

1) Mississippi (also #1 last year)
2) South Carolina (also #2 last year)
3) Georgia (also #3 last year)
4) Louisiana (up from #8)
5) Kentucky (down from #4)
6) New Mexico (down from #5)
7) Indiana (up from #12)
8) Arkansas (up from #9)
9) Oklahoma (down from #6)
10) Iowa (up from #17)

Continue reading »

As you might remember, efforts in the General Assembly to crack down on predatory "payday" lenders were unsuccessful during the spring legislative session. With such broad measures shelved until the fall, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) is doing its part to improve oversight on one element of this industry: car title loans, in which a borrower uses their vehicle as collateral.

As with other predatory lenders, the major problem with title loans is the combination of exorbitant interest rates and meager regulation. Indeed, title loan borrowers are often charged a 300 percent APR and can lose their vehicle even after they've paid back more than they took out. Nowhere is the lack of regulation worse than in Illinois, as McClatchey recently reported:

Of the 16 states that permit high-interest auto loans, Illinois is the only state where there is no limit on the interest rates lenders can charge, and it is the only state without a single consumer protection linked to auto title loans, according to the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based community think tank.

To protect Prairie State residents, the IDFPR today filed these proposed rule changes:

- Restrict loans to $4,000 or less.

- Limit the number of times a loan can be refinanced to two times and allow that only when the outstanding balance of the loan has been reduced by at least 20 percent.

- Require the lender to make sure the borrower has not had a title or other short-term loan in at least 15 days.

- Require the lender to give the borrower a toll-free number for the Illinois Financial and Professional Regulation Department, so that any borrower with problems can get help.

Continue reading »