A new report from the Climate and Development Lab at Brown University provides insights about the major players on climate and clean energy policy in the Illinois state legislature, showing how conflicts and coalitions between environmental, fossil fuel, labor, and business groups shape legislative outcomes in the state.
The report is based on the collection and analysis of more than 6,000 testimony records on 878 bills from 2013 to 2022, which represent the first comprehensive dataset on climate and clean energy lobbying in Illinois. The analysis shows how fossil fuel and business groups clash with environmental organizations on energy policy, and underscores the significance of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in aligning multiple sectors to transition the state towards a green economy.
Key points from the report:
Major New Data: We built the first systematic dataset of testimony on climate and clean energy legislation in Illinois, analyzing 6,732 positions taken by organizations on 878 bills from 2013-2022.
Opposing Coalitions: Business groups and fossil fuel producers were strongly opposed to environmental groups. Organized labor, comprising workers from both fossil fuel and clean energy sectors, did not uniformly support either side.
Nuclear’s Role: More than half of Illinois’s electricity generation comes from nuclear power. Utilities in Illinois are strong supporters of nuclear power, as are representatives of communities where the plants are located.
A New Approach: The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, an ambitious spending package, was passed with the support of both organized labor and environmental groups, showing a winning strategy for sweeping environmental policy at the state level.
The data underlying this report can also be found on the website How Do They Lobby, a project of the Climate and Development Lab which provides free and easy access to over 13 million public records across 17 states, showing how interest groups lobby and testify to influence legislation across state legislatures. The website allows for network analysis of the major coalitions of interest groups in different states, broken down by issue type; shows interest groups’ most common allies and opponents and the positions they took; and facilitates search and download of lobbying and testimony records across states.
コメント