Illinois lawmaker supports EPA rollback; AG opposes

By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – An Illinois lawmaker is praising the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump for repealing the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, calling the move a win for Illinois businesses — even as Attorney General Kwame Raoul warns the rollback ignores decades of law and climate science and threatens public health.

State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, explained the federal move will ease economic pressure not just on employers but on families across the state.

“I think this move is going to help everyone in Illinois, whether you own a business or are an individual or a family, because these regulations have contributed to higher costs for everybody,” said Halbrook.

Raoul condemned the rescission, arguing it undermines the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases and weakens protections for public health and the environment. He has indicated he will continue pushing back against the Trump administration’s action.

“Rescinding this finding will undo progress we have made to address climate change by eliminating existing EPA greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles and undermining the EPA’s mandate to regulate harmful air pollution that causes climate change,” Raoul said.

Halbrook, however, said Illinois should align itself with the federal changes.

“I know the attorney general is pushing back. I think that’s just what they do. Democrats tend to oppose anything Republicans do, and they’re especially opposed to anything President Trump does,” said Halbrook. “Whether it’s political posturing or an inherent preference for mandates and restrictions, it’s predictable and to be expected from Democrats.”

Supporters of the Endangerment Finding argue its repeal could weaken environmental protections, including standards for vehicle and power plant emissions.

Halbrook questioned those claims.

“You can make science say whatever you want to say. You can make research say whatever you want to make it say,” he said. “We hear this about protecting the environment and making it better. As we see the huge push to bring on solar and wind electrical generating facilities, when we look at the environmental impact that it takes to manufacture solar panels, the environmental impact that it takes to manufacture wind towers … it’s just a fallacy at best to think that they’re saving the environment when there’s such a huge environmental impact to the manufacture and construction of these two different types of facilities.”

Halbrook said the biggest impact in Illinois could come from changes affecting coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, which have faced tighter regulations in recent years.

“I think it’s going to have a huge positive impact,” he said.

He argued that efforts over the past several years to regulate coal and natural gas generation “have driven the cost up in the summer months, double and triple, and maybe more than that in some locations.”

“If those caps are to come off, I think it’ll make it lower cost of production and lower cost to consumers for electricity in the state. I think that’s a positive thing,” Halbrook said.

Raoul, in a recent news release, argued the rescission conflicts with established law and Supreme Court precedent.

“The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the direct result of the landmark 2007 Supreme Court opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA, won by Illinois and its partner states. The ruling confirmed the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that threaten the public’s health and welfare,” according to a statement issued by the office. “After more than two years of scientific review, the EPA determined that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that harms the public’s health and welfare. The agency then set standards to limit motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.”