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Gwen Pepin
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Springfield, IL — In case you missed it, Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Budget isn’t just a threat to hospitals and food banks across Illinois – it also endangers Illinois’ clean energy economy and the good-paying jobs it supports. Following new reporting where climate and energy experts warn that the Big Ugly Budget would derail environmental progress and increase costs for families, the Democratic Party of Illinois released the following statement:
“At a time when extreme heat, wildfires, and flooding are becoming the new normal, Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Budget does exactly the wrong thing – slashes environmental protections, guts clean energy investments, and drives up costs for working families already stretched thin by his tariffs. Illinois Congressional Republicans Mary Miller, Mike Bost, and Darin LaHood voted to sabotage our progress, sell out our future, and leave Illinoisans to deal with the damage.”
But thanks to strong Democratic leadership in Illinois, the state is equipped to defend the progress we’ve made. While the nation faces major setbacks, Illinois is powered by Governor Pritzker’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act – one of the nation’s most ambitious climate laws – giving Illinois a stronger foundation to protect and grow our clean energy future.
Key excerpts from the Chicago Tribune: Illinois clean energy hit hard by Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill: ‘An incredibly damaging blow’
By Nara Schoenberg
- The bill is also expected to cost Illinois jobs, with 21,000 fewer people employed in 2030, according to Dan O’Brien, a senior analyst at Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan energy and climate policy think tank.
- With the bill in place, the annual energy cost per household nationwide will be $170 higher in 2035.
- Under the bill, Illinois will see about 30% to 60% less clean power added to the grid by 2035.
- The firm also found that there would be about 16% to 38% fewer electric vehicles on the road nationwide in 2035.
- The Trump bill is expected to increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis by Princeton’s REPEAT project, which found the U.S. would emit roughly 470 million additional metric tons per year in 2035.
- Illinois is expected to see a smaller reduction in new clean energy under the Trump bill than the nation as a whole, according to the Rhodium Group.
- “Part of that is just that Illinois is a great place to build wind, particularly downstate, and the economics of that are favorable in some cases, even without the tax credits,” King said.
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