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May is the month Illinois welcomes back Monarch Butterflies

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May is the month Illinois welcomes back Monarch Butterflies


(The Heart Sq.) – Could is the month Illinois welcomes again monarch butterflies from the mountains of Michoacán in Mexico, the place they spend the winter. Should you feed them, they are going to come.

It takes two to a few generations of butterflies to achieve the prairies of Illinois, Ken Johnson, one of many hosts of the Good Rising podcast and a horticulture educator with the College of Illinois Extension, instructed The Heart Sq..

He recommends gardeners have quite a lot of crops of their yards in order that one thing is at all times in bloom – from Could via September – if they need the monarchs to go to.

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Milkweeds are the one key host plant that monarchs want with a view to breed and lay their eggs. Lengthy reviled as a weed, milkweeds are native wildflowers – widespread once more with residence gardeners. Eleven totally different sorts of milkweed develop in Illinois. However milkweeds are usually not proper for each yard, Johnson stated.

Milkweeds can get massive and aggressive. Attempt planting three or 4 milkweeds alongside a fence or in a nook of your yard. Or plant them in pots. Look ahead to monarch caterpillars, Johnson stated.

In 2017, with the assistance of the Illinois Monarch Challenge, the Illinois Division of Transportation modified their mowing pointers to permit native milkweed to thrive in medians and alongside highways, creating greater than 80,000 acres of monarch-friendly habitat.

As spectacular as that’s, Illinois nonetheless has an extended solution to go to carry again monarchs within the numbers that we’d like. Each yard gardener has an element to play within the regeneration of this vital pollinator, the Illinois Monarch Challenge stated. Johnson recommends the Illinois Monarch Challenge web site for anybody who must learn about making their yard a pleasant habitat for Illinois’ official state insect.

Many residence gardeners overuse pesticides and herbicides.

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“Utilizing pesticides, herbicides and fungicides defeats the aim of getting a pollinator backyard,” Johnson stated.

Being too inflexible about how your yard appears to be like can even defeat the aim of getting a pollinator backyard.

“After we spray our lawns, we get a monoculture of grass that’s not engaging to monarchs or every other pollinators,” Johnson stated.

Johnson recommends tolerating some weeds. Violets, dandelions, clover and goldenrod that individuals generally kill are powerhouse meals for useful bugs and pollinators, he stated.

Be keen to reside with some harm to your crops.

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“Having issues feed on them, having a little bit illness on them is OK,” Johnson stated.

Native crops are crops that happen naturally in a area wherein they developed. They’re very hardy and drought tolerant – simpler to develop than crops that originated in Europe or Asia. Bee balm, black-eyed Susans, coneflower, coreopsis, asters and blazing star are frequent native crops that may enhance your yard ecosystems and assist birds, butterflies and useful bugs.

Widespread ornamentals like zinnias and cosmos have an vital position to play as properly, Johnson stated. Nectar-seeking butterflies love them. Plant them and they are going to be lined with butterflies all summer season, he stated.





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Illinois' green energy climate goals are pushed back as demands prompt more fossil fuel use

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Illinois' green energy climate goals are pushed back as demands prompt more fossil fuel use


More than three years after Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a major climate change plan to usher in solar and wind energy and phase out polluting, planet-warming coal and natural gas, fossil fuels are making a comeback.

In Illinois and around the Midwest, coal and gas plants are extending their planned retirement dates even after a 2021 state law aimed to phase them out. Meanwhile, solar and wind projects are having a hard time getting up and running.

The reason: Electricity needed for data centers, particularly those dedicated to artificial intelligence, is creating enormous demand for power — even sources that are polluting the air and contributing to global warming.

In Illinois, renewable energy sources are supposed to fill the gaps as the dirty power from coal and gas would be eliminated once plants are closed. But the clean energy sources are not coming online fast enough because there is a delay in getting them connected to the electric grid.

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This spring, Illinois officials will examine their goals for clean power, which may affect ambitious targets to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions, the most common greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

The high demand for electricity and the inability of clean power to get connected is not just bad for electric customers facing bigger monthly bills, it’s inhibiting the battle to slow climate change and is harmful to human health.

“More coal equals more emissions equals more health problems and deaths,” says Brian Urbaszewski, director of environmental health programs at Respiratory Health Association in Chicago.

The state’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act is aimed at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. But lawmakers say they didn’t expect the explosive demand for energy across the country due to development of AI and other data centers.

“No one foresaw this demand from data centers,” says Illinois state Sen. Bill Cunningham, who represents Southwest Chicago and nearby suburbs and is a key lawmaker pushing forward climate and energy legislation.

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Under the climate law, the state has a goal of renewable power delivering at least 40% of electricity sold in Illinois by 2030. The state isn’t even halfway to that goal.

The reason for the slow growth is the inability to connect renewable energy sources to the electric grid either because of transmission issues or approval from the multi-state electric grid operator. In Northern Illinois, hundreds of clean energy projects are waiting to be connected to the grid.

“There are surely challenges on the horizon,” says Will Kenworthy, Midwest regulatory director at advocacy group Vote Solar. “I’m always an optimist but I think it will require some deliberate policy to accelerate reliable generation” of clean power.

Battery storage will be important for optimizing renewables’ power production. Because solar farms don’t produce electricity at night and since wind farms are not producing when the wind dies down, there has to be a way to store power using large battery operations.

“The default position shouldn’t be, ‘let the fossil fuel plants keep burning,’” Cunningham said.

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Illinois lawmakers are going to address the problems in legislation expected to be introduced in the coming months.

Pritzker promises to fix the problem.

“Gov. Pritzker is committed to working with the General Assembly to increase the state’s clean power supply and reduce costs for working families,” Alex Gough, the governor’s press secretary, says.

While it may seem President Donald Trump would upend climate goals in Illinois because of his shutdown of federal climate programs, it’s actually market forces challenging Illinois. The fixes are within the state’s powers.

As renewable power developments struggle to get connected to the electric grid, Wall Street is betting on natural gas.

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The recently announced deal by Constellation Energy — owner of all six Illinois nuclear plants — to buy natural gas company Calpine left no doubt that gas and coal as power sources aren’t exiting anytime soon.

“Natural gas capacity will support the electric system for decades,” Constellation boasted in its presentation to investors, who cheered the acquisition.

There were other signals about the comeback of fossil fuels noted before the Constellation deal was announced.

In December, Vistra, the owner of three coal plants in Illinois, said it will keep one of those operations running an additional two years because of surging power demand. The Baldwin coal plant in Southern Illinois was scheduled to shut down this year but will stay open until at least 2027, according to Texas-based Vistra.

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The coal-fired Baldwin Power Plant in southern Illinois was supposed to close this year, but will stay open at least an additional two years, the owner says.

In September, the private equity owner of a sizable natural gas plant in Elgin reversed plans to close that facility by June. The company, Chicago-based Middle River Power, had announced the closure just months earlier.

Private equity — investment firms that look for struggling businesses they can snap up and later sell — have become a big player in fossil fuel energy, according to research from nonprofit Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

Surrounding states are seeing similar trends. In Indiana, a large coal plant may extend its life in the midst of rising demand for power. The Gibson plant, the second-largest coal operation in the U.S., is just across the Wabash River from Mount Carmel in Southern Illinois.

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The fossil fuel plant owners are delaying their retirement dates as renewables have been slow to connect to the electric grids, saying they fear a potential supply shortfall.

This trend is occurring even as electric customers in Chicago’s suburbs are questioning the environmental impacts from their sources of power.

In Naperville, St. Charles and Winnetka, residents are pushing back on plans for their municipal utilities to continue to buy power from a cooperative known as Illinois Municipal Electric Agency. The cooperative provides power that it purchases from a large coal plant in southern Illinois known as Prairie State as well as a coal plant in Kentucky. The cooperative also co-owns those coal plants.

The power keeping the lights on in Naperville and the other two communities is 80% sourced from coal.

This has led to movements in all three suburbs to end ties with Illinois Municipal Electric in five years.

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“This is our future,” says Libby Gardner, a senior at North Central College in Naperville.

Gardner, 21, is a member of the Say No to Coal coalition as well as a student organization focused on climate and environmental issues.

In a statement, Illinois Municipal Electric says it is looking to change its mix of power sources, including adding renewable energy in coming years. At this time, it’s trying to get communities, including the three suburbs, to recommit for 20 years.

“Traditionally renewable energy commitments are secured for 20 years in order to get the lowest cost pricing,” spokesperson Staci Wilson says.

A spokesperson for Prairie State, an hour southeast of St. Louis, says plant owners are looking at ways to reduce carbon emissions, “serving as a bridge to a cleaner energy future.”

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The Prairie State coal plant southeast of St. Louis helps power Naperville, St. Charles and Winnetka under a long-term contract. Residents want their suburbs to end ties to the dirty power source.

The Prairie State coal plant southeast of St. Louis helps power Naperville, St. Charles and Winnetka under a long-term contract. Residents want their suburbs to end ties to the dirty power source.

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A coal-burning electricity plant in Romeoville. Eight Illinois coal-burning electric plants boosted production in 2021 even as most of them are facing a 2030 deadline to shut down. This plant in Will County more than doubled its output last year.

Burning coal to create electricity will be largely banned in Illinois in 2030. But plants in Waukegan, Romeoville, elsewhere burned more in 2021 than a year before. One day, their emissions will end — but not yet.

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The suit says BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell have hurt the city by discrediting science even as their products lead to “catastrophic consequences,” including strong storms, flooding, severe heat and shoreline erosion.

Christopher Williams, owner of Millennium Solar in Calumet City, Illinois.

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed by the governor, set a timeline for phasing out fossil-fuel energy sources by 2050.

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Controversial 'overdose prevention sites' get $18 million in Illinois funding

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Controversial 'overdose prevention sites' get  million in Illinois funding


A state board Thursday approved up to $18 million in funding for controversial “overdose prevention sites” that would allow people to use drugs in a public space where clinicians could make sure they’re safe.

The money would come from the state’s growing $235 million opioid settlement fund.

The fund is generated by Illinois’ share of settlements from lawsuits that states have filed against drug manufacturers and retailers. The fund is expected to rise to least $795 million in Illinois.

New York City and Vancouver, Canada are among the cities that have overdose prevention sites. State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, has previously introduced legislation that would make such sites legal in Illinois.

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On Thursday, the Illinois Opioid Remediation Advisory Board voted 8-3 to approve funding for up to three overdose prevention sites, each of which would annually get up to $2 million over a three-year pilot program, for a total of $18 million.

Dr. Miao Jenny Hua, a board member and Chicago’s interim deputy commissioner of behavioral health, was among those who voted for it. Board member Chelsea Laliberte Barnes said there’s “35 to 40 years of global evidence as to why this proposal is critical.”

Details of the pilot program haven’t been worked out, including where the sites would go. But the priority will be given to communities with the highest number of fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Chicago’s West Side has the worst overdose problem in the state.

The opioid settlement board acknowledged the pilot program may need accompanying legislation to protect drug users and clinicians from getting prosecuted under state drug laws.

Last year, the Illinois ACLU and AIDS Foundation of Chicago supported Ford’s proposed legislation to allow the sites. But the bill failed because opponents instead favored a measure to supply jails, hospitals and other institutions with fentanyl test strips.

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The board’s funding approval is expected to give a boost to new legislation Ford plans to file in the General Assembly to allow overdose prevention sites to operate legally in the state.

“Living in an area that is probably one of the highest fatal overdose communities, I think this is monumental and it’s actually going to save lives,” Ford, who represents the West Side, said after the board’s vote.

The vote, in his opinion, will be one of the best recommendations to come out of the Illinois Opioid Remediation Advisory Board. Members at Thursday’s meeting echoed Ford’s sentiments, describing it as historic.

“Many people think that this is just about people going into the site to use drugs,” Ford said, adding that the locations are expected to provide other services to address medical issues and job placement. “These sites will be about a safe place where people will have a chance at life and they will have a chance for recovery.”

On Thursday, the opioid settlement board also approved $20 million in one-time statewide housing for people recovering from drug addiction.

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Musk makes joke about Gov. Pritzker’s weight on social media, Pritzker fires back

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Musk makes joke about Gov. Pritzker’s weight on social media, Pritzker fires back


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The Governor of Illinois fired back after Elon Musk personally insulted him on social media Wednesday.

“Nothing is more dangerous than getting between JB Pritzker and the buffet table!” Elon Musk wrote from his personal account on the X platform that he owns. X is formerly known as Twitter.

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Gov. JB Pritzker responded to the message by posting an image of himself purchasing a hot dog at a famous Chicago hot dog stand – the Wieners Circle. “I salute @The WienerCircle, not Nazis.”, he wrote.

Musk’s message containing the insult also included a video clip of Pritzker at a news conference reacting to a temporary freeze on federal funding that the White House announced Tuesday. Pritzker in the clip reiterated his promise to Illinois residents that he would defend their freedom, health, and security from the Trump administration.

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Musk has been criticized for gestures he made during President Donald Trump’s inaugural parade that resembled Nazi salutes.

Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@gannett.com.



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