Illinois Review

Navigating the Hazards of an Industrial Age

By John F. Di Leo -

On May 11, 1996, 105 passengers boarded a ValuJet flight in Miami, bound for Atlanta.  They never made it.

Shortly after takeoff, a small explosion in the airtight cargo hold developed into a fire, which should have burned out quickly, but didn’t.  The 27-year-old plane’s crew of five, and all 105 passengers, were killed as the plane plummeted into the Everglades.

Many chalked this up to the dangers of plane travel and the poor maintenance record of ValuJet, which, as a budget carrier, certainly gave plausible grounds for the argument… but it wasn’t a lack of maintenance that caused this crash; it was maintenance by the wrong maintenance crew.

The plane didn’t crash because of bad upkeep or failed systems or old or broken parts.  It crashed because a maintenance worker put a box of Hazardous Materials in the cargo hold, and, apparently out of sheer ignorance, did everything wrong. 

Quinn's Quaint Quote of the Day

CHICAGO - Desperately looking for some good news out of the Land of Lincoln, Governor Pat Quinn tried this Tweet Wednesday afternoon... Only Al Gore could be more delighted.

Losing jobs, losing credit rating, losing respect. But it's not all that bad. Surely the nation is envious of this distinction:

Environment Illinois demands fracking moratorium

CHICAGO - Emboldened by the November elections, Environment Illinois is ready to shut down any attempt to access one of the nation's largest natural gas reservoirs in Illinois.  Max Muller, the group's top environs activist went into action promoting legislation to restrict tapping into the energy source via SB 3280. Such a moratorium would doom natural gas-rich Southern Illinois' already nearly-collapsed coal industry and the area's devastated economy:

As you read this, the oil and gas industry is getting ready to start fracking here in Illinois.

In other states this dirty gas drilling process has already brought a staggering array of threats to our health and environment. Toxic laden-fluids and wastewater contaminate the water, air pollution makes families sick, and drilling rigs turn rural landscapes into industrial zones. We have got to get Springfield to stop fracking pollution before it starts here.

Enviros win Carbondale resolution to stop natural gas fracking

Environmentalist groups are organizing against Illinois initiating horizontal fracking to extract the state's plentiful natural gas resources. City by city, town by town, the radical Leftist groups that have also been successful in shutting down Illinois coal mines and other natural resource mining are now targeting to stop yet another economic boon in Illinois. A press release from Environment Illinois indicates the Carbondale City Council joined onto their anti-fracking efforts this week:

Carbondale, IL - In a unanimous decision, the Carbondale City Council passed a resolution calling on the Illinois General Assembly to “enact a moratorium on high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing until such time as the health and environmental concerns of the people of Illinois are addressed.: In this decision, Carbondale joins the Illinois towns of Carlyle, Anna and Alto Pass and Union and Jackson Counties in taking action supporting a moratorium, becoming the largest city yet to do so.

There's More to Natural Gas Than Hot Air

By Nancy Thorner and Ed Ingold -

An Associated Press article by Kevin Bego, Decades of federal dollars helped fuel gas boom, describes how government subsidies and tax breaks preceded the breakthrough called "fracking" which allows natural gas to be extracted from deep shale deposits economically, so economically that natural gas prices have been reduced by over 60% in the last three years.  
 
It is evident that Kevin Bego wrote his article while keeping in mind the President's highly charged statement, "You didn't build that," which is not quite true.
 
These gas deposits, 3000 feet deep or more in solid, non-porous rock, were thought to be unusable. Yet engineers and scientists in the industry persevered for more than twenty years, developing fracking technology to this end. 

Illinois Basin-affiliated Patriot Coal files for bankruptcy

Patriot Coal became the first U.S. coal producer to file for bankruptcy in New York Monday.  A switch to natural gas for electricity is a major cause, Reuters reports. Upon the news, Patriot Coal stocks plummeted. Three Illinois Basin mines will be affected by the reorganization, all located in western Kentucky - Bluegrass, Dodge Hill and Highland.

The company's announcement is HERE.

Encourage your congressman to limit EPA's overreach

By Frank A. Masters -

A bill will be voted on in the U.S. House this week (June 18-22)  to significantly increase oil and gas production on America's public lands, limit the EPA's regulatory overreach that threatens further harm in the downstream sector, and place a condition on the White House's ability to release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The "Domestic Energy and Jobs Act" combines measures that cleared both the House Natural Resources and the Energy and Commerce Committees this Spring. This legislation, if passed, would:

EPA regulations threaten to close Illinois coal plants

By Nancy Thorner -

Part 1: EPA coal regulations advance government policies in name of man-made global warming/Heartland leads fight against 'warmists'

I have heard said a number of times by those who claim to be in the know about predicting election outcomes, that the November elections will be fought and won over the economy, jobs, with energy taking 3rd place. 

Energy really deserves the number one spot, for energy is what drives the economy of  this nation. With this nation's factories and industries humming along people are employed. With employment the American people have money to spend, which, in turn, fosters economic growth.

ChiTown Occupiers greet 99% Solidarity comrades

Just outside Chicago Thursday am ...

Shimkus: Obama Administration has a deep hatred for coal

Despite hailing from coal-rich Illinois, Obama is apparently "evolving" on the issue of clean coal, in addition to gay marriage ... From The Hill:

Republicans, earlier this week, highlighted the website to bolster their longstanding allegations that Obama has “declared war on coal.”

“Coal is still a valuable resource … and yet this administration has been open in the business of putting coal out of business,” Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), a vocal proponent of the coal industry, said during a House hearing.

How does a $50 light bulb become a cost-cutting product with promise?

By Nancy Thorner -

Have you tried recently to purchase a 100-watt incandescent light bulb in a local hardware store or other place of business? Would it be a surprise if I informed you that the traditional 100-watt bulb was banned starting this year. Next year sales of the traditional 75-watt "Edison" light bulb will be prohibited. In 2014 60-watt incandescent bulbs will have the same fate.

With this in mind, I was flabbergasted when I read an article in the May, 2012, issue of "Environment & Climate News" published by The Heartland Institute, telling how our government set up a program to develop an inexpensive green light bulb and then gave a $10 million "L Prize" to Philips, a Dutch electronics company for developing an affordable, energy-efficient light bulb to replace the common traditional Edison bulb.

10 Year Anniversary of ANWR's Defeat - Still no Energy Policy, Part 2

By Ghost of John Brown -

Yesterday, was the first part of this article on the 10th Anniversary of the Senate Democrats defeating the exploration of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Click here to find it. Today, we continue the article and discuss some of the implications.

Dependence on Foreign Oil

US net imports of oil hit it's highest percentage based on consumption in 2005 at roughly 60%. Since that time, our imports have fallen slightly to roughly 50% of total consumption, largely due to the economy. Today, we import about 1,900 million barrels of oil daily from the Persian Gulf.  About half of that amount could be eliminated with full production from ANWR alone. (Yes, I know, we don't use all of our oil and there are different types - I'm talking net).

10 Year Anniversary of ANWR's Defeat - Still no Energy Policy, Part 1

By Ghost of John Brown

The internet is a wondrous thing.  Perhaps the most wonderful thing about the internet is that it magically preserves the words of idiots so we can use those words against them years later. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the Senate’s vote to deny oil production in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve (ANWR).  At the time, liberal Senate Democrats were downplaying the ability of ANWR to help with our energy needs.  Maria Cantwell D-WA said:

"I believe there is no way to justify drilling in ANWR in the name of national security.  Oil extracted from the wildlife refuge would not reach refineries for 7 to 10 years and would never satisfy more than 2 percent of our Nation's oil demands at any one time."

Guess what, Senator - it's 10 years later.  BTW, the 2% figure is a lie too, but that's expected with Democrats.

Volt needs recharging? Illinois, 350Green and 7-Eleven's got it

CHICAGO - Following the Obama Administration's lead in using tax dollars to subsidize and promote environmentally-friendly companies, Thursday, Governor Pat Quinn flaunted Illinois taxpayers' investment in constructing electric vehicle (EV) stations along Illinois tollways and ing Chicago.

“We want Illinois to be the greenest state in America,” Governor Quinn said. “By installing the largest network of cutting edge fast-chargers, Illinois will continue to support green jobs and provide people with environmentally-friendly and affordable travel options.”

Crossroads GPS targets Obama's energy policies

O'Brien: It's Not Your Fault, Tubby. It's "Climate Change."

By Teri O'Brien -

This morning, during a Fox News report about the supposed dangers of consuming beef, the designated "expert," a family practice physician, cited Dr. Dean Ornish's piece entitled, "Holy Cow! What's Good For You Is Good For Our Planet" about a recent study that claims that "beef is bad for you." In this piece, under the heading "Global Warming Crisis," Dr. Ornish cites an additional benefit to avoiding those yummy burgers: a decrease in your carbon footprint. You selfish American bastard, don't you care about that? Are you more interested in eating something that tastes delicious even if you are destroying the planet? Well, since all you care about is yourself, perhaps this news will change your earth-destroying ways. From the ironically-named ScienceNordic:

Heartland Institute's Fizzle-Gate

By Paul Jacobs -

When documents from Heartland Institute went public, showing strategy and funding for various climate-related research and advocacy projects, some folks immediately hailed it as a scandal to compare with the "Climate-gate" email embarrassment of sometime back. "Denier-gate" and even "Heartland-gate" were the hastily suffixed monikers for the news story.

But then it was discovered that the leak was the result of an inquiry made by a major climate-change activist, Peter Gleick, who had been slipped some allegedly damning documents and asked Heartland for more information . . . posing as a member of the group's board of directors.

One More Reason to Move to Texas

By Ghost of John Brown -

I've been threatening to move to Texas for the last couple of years, a thought that excites some of my critics no doubt. Sure they have lower taxes and the business environment is better, and while those are compelling reasons, the one thing that Texas has over Illinois is zero chance of glaciers any time soon. While I'm not actually predicting glaciers, it is hard not to believe that if you are going to stay here in Illinois, or at least northern Illinois, investment in a snow-blower would be a wise decision. This time at least, it isn't Mike Madigan's fault - it's the sun.

The Democrats' War on Transportation

By John F. Di Leo -

The new "Hours of Service" rules are just a drop in the bucket...

We think of the world of transportation -- especially trucking and automobile manufacturing -- as being one of the most fundamental of Democratic Party constituencies. Detroit has long been a party stronghold, with the UAW and Teamsters among Democrats' most powerful union supporters. From the worker at the DMV to the driver he licenses, this is one solid chain of Democrats.

But is this political loyalty deserved today, if indeed it ever was?  Since the Democratic Party was taken over by environmental extremists a generation ago, there has been a marked shift from the pro-driver, pro-automaker party of Detroit to the anti-car, anti-truck, anti-transport party of today. 

Smart Meters – Just how smart are they?

By The Cranky Housewife -

It looks like Naperville, Illinois has just become the epicenter for an ongoing tug-of-war over Smart Meters. ComEd and environmental groups are pushing for the implementation of the Smart Grid in this Illinois suburb of Chicago siting a substantial and positive environmental impact, more jobs and a move to cleaner energy.

Per Jack Darin who is the Illinois Sierra Club Director (Yes, the Sierra Club…*big sigh*):

“This will be a huge boost to clean energy in Illinois. We'll see new jobs and businesses, and cleaner air as we move away from city coal...A smarter power grid will also save consumers money by giving us new tools to manage our power consumption”