Category: Illinois
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IKEA Buys First Wind Farm, Its Largest-Ever Renewable Energy Investment
IKEA has earned a reputation for its solar energy and electric vehicle infrastructure investments, but the same can’t be said for wind power. That all changed Thursday when the Swedish company announced that it was making the first wind energy purchase of its 71-year history. The company is buying Hoopeston Wind Farm in Hoopeston, Ill., about…
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Illinois Votes to Keep Big Coal in Schools
While coal mining families in West Virginia and across the country mourned the fourth anniversary of the tragic Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster last week, hailed by U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin II as “a conspiracy to violate mine safety and health laws,” the Illinois state legislature rolled out the red carpet for Big Coal and voted to…
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Two Arrested Protesting Strip Mine as Community Battles World’s Largest Coal Company
While Peabody Energy may have hired a notorious public relations firm to hawk its international ad campaign, a village trustee and her rural farming community have exposed the devastating legacy of the world’s largest coal company near its historic Illinois beginnings. Meet Judy Kellen and the courageous community of Rocky Branch in Saline County, IL, whose battle to save their…
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Chicago Mayor Demands Answers From BP After Oil Spill
Though this week’s BP oil spill on Lake Michigan didn’t take place in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s territory, it was close enough. At just 20 miles away in Whiting, IN, the estimated eight-to-12-barrel spill could have impacted the water source of about 7 million people in Chicago and its suburbs. That’s why a fiery Rahm Emanuel…
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Residents Take Stand Against World’s Largest Coal Company in Southern Illinois
On March 13, a handful of local residents blocked a road through the forest in southern Illinois and attempted to prevent a contractor for Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal company, from bringing in logging equipment to clear the area for a new 1,000-acre mine. [caption id="attachment_327402" align="alignnone" width="500"] Opponents of the Rocky Branch strip mine in…