Category: Illinois
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Fracking Industry Tries to Buy Democracy in Rural Illinois
Johnson County, IL has oil and gas interests panicked about a local effort to stop fracking. They’re spending tens of thousands of dollars in the rural county to defeat a referendum that opposes fracking and defends local rights. The referendum reads: “Shall the people’s right to local self-government be asserted by Johnson County to ban…
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FrackGate Comes to Illinois? Media Blackout on Fracking Vote
As the national media puts the spotlight on the “FrackGate” public relations scandal in Ohio, where state officials worked to “marginalize opponents of fracking by teaming up with corporations—including Halliburton—business groups and media outlets,” Illinois residents behind a ballot initiative to ban fracking in rural Johnson County are facing a similar campaign of misinformation and…
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Illinois Strip Mine Showdown is Last Best Hope
When besieged residents, already choked by toxic coal dust, face off with Peabody Energy officials on Feb. 18, in Harrisburg, at an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) hearing for a five-year strip mine expansion permit, more than 1,019 paltry acres will be at stake. As President Lincoln once invoked in a moment of crisis, the courageous residents in…
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Illinois Mine Safety Head Took Thousands in Campaign Contributions from Coal Baron Chris Cline
Tony Mayville is a candidate for State Representative in southern Illinois and chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party. He has also supervised the Mine Safety division and served as acting director of Mines and Minerals at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Over several years, including time while Mayville was responsible for regulating Illinois coal mines, he collected…
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Video: Fracking the Land of Lincoln
A disturbing new video of poisoned water, leaking oil rigs, and lax enforcement at Illinois oil wells highlights why proposed fracking regulation won’t protect the state’s environment or people. The Greenpeace interview with a southern Illinois native and former oil worker shows a fracking test well in a neglected part of the state where weak enforcement at existing wells…