Description: Challenge to certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas pipeline in a rural area of Illinois.
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Pembroke Environmental Justice Coalition v. Illinois Commerce Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/23/2022 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. Community Groups Challenged Authorization of Gas Pipeline in Rural Illinois. Community and environmental groups filed a petition for review in the Illinois Appellate Court challenging the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC’s) approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas pipeline in Pembroke Township, which the groups described as “an historic Black farming community whose concerns were not considered in the approval process and who could be severely harmed by the pipeline.” Before the ICC, the petitioners argued that the project was “out of step” with State policy priorities of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use. They contended that even though the pipeline company claimed to be fulfilling “decades-long” efforts to bring natural gas to the area, the prior perception of natural gas as “a cost-effective and cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels was based on unknown or unacknowledged climate impacts, and before emissions reductions needed to avoid dangerous levels of warming were fully understood.” The petitioners stated: “Those perceptions have been disproven. Today, the policy of the State of Illinois is decarbonization and equitable acceleration of clean energy adoption.”