On September 15, 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois signed a comprehensive clean energy bill into law, making Illinois the first state in the Midwest to set climate goals for phasing out coal and natural gas. The omnibus bill received support from both environmental groups, who endorse the law’s emphasis on decarbonization, and union groups, who support the law’s protections of unionized labor.
While not explicitly mentioned in discussions surrounding the law, the law will work to further three of the sustainable development goals: Ensuring access to affordable and sustainable energy (Goal 7), reducing inequality (Goal 10), and taking urgent action to combat climate change (Goal 13).
To ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy, the law requires that 40 percent of the state’s energy be carbon free by 2030, 50 percent be carbon free by 2040, and 100 percent be carbon free by 2050. While residential electric bills are expected to increase by about three to four percent in the short-term, the government is subsidizing three nuclear power plants over the next five years and increasing annual nuclear energy subsidies by more than $350 million. In an effort to increase the number of electric vehicles in the state, the state government will also be providing a $4,000 rebate to all Illinoisans purchasing an electric vehicle starting next July.
In an effort to reduce inequality, the law establishes a Clean Jobs Workforce Network program under the supervision of the Department of Commerce and Economic opportunity. This program will provide job training, focusing on Black and Latinx populations in Illinois. Training will extend to the formerly incarcerated who are interested in pursuing a career in the renewable energy field. The law also creates a Jobs and Justice Fund to ensure the equitable distribution of any economic benefits that result from this transition to cleaner energy.
Upon signing the bill, Gov. Pritzker announced, “We can’t outrun or hide from climate change… There is no time to lost but what we can do, what we must do – and thanks to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act – Illinois is doing, is to fight, to stop, and even reverse the damage that’s been done to our climate.” While Illinois is the first in the Midwest, and among the first in the United States generally, to pass such a sweeping climate and labor bill, it is likely far from being the last.
To learn more about the climate crisis in the U.S., click here.
To see the full text of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, click here.