PEORIA (25News Now) – Seventeen attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday over an executive order banning wind energy development.
President Donald Trump signed the executive order Jan. 1, pausing all approvals, permits, and loans for all wind energy projects in the U.S. and overseas. Illinois currently ranks fifth in the nation for wind power production, with more than 3,800 wind turbines across the state.
Heart of Illinois Sierra Club Conservation Co-Chair Joyce Blumenshine said the lawsuit is important work. She said the current administration wants to promote an “America first” energy police, but said they are “shooting themselves in the foot” by cutting wind power development.
“Wind energy and other clean energy like solar are one of the cheapest and best ways we can promote our own unique American energy,” Blumenshine said.
The Illinois Attorney General’s Office argued wind energy has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars for the economy, and supplies more than 10% of the country’s electricity.
Bluemnshine said the executive order is an overreach of executive power.
“We’re talking about projects that have state permitting, that states are relying on for their energy future, for the balance of energy, and also to help their environment,” Blumenshine said.
Local anti-wind turbine group No Peoria County Windmills Spokesperson Dan Hinez said he supports the executive order because he believes more problems come with turbines than benefits.
Hinez claims turbines interrupt people’s sleep, can cause health issues, and devalue property. He also said he believes subsidized tax credits are a burden on everyday people.
“That puts the burden back on the taxpayer,” Hinez said. “This is a long-term commitment that would change this landscape for decades.”
He said his group is not against clean energy, but said wind turbines are not the most effective form of energy production.
“We’d like to see this country, where we have the smartest people in the world, take that money instead of giving it to these companies, like [those] located overseas in Spain, and give it to some of these engineers here,” Hinez said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a recent statement that President Trump’s executive order is illegal.
“The decision by the Trump administration to effectively halt all wind energy development is illegal and baseless,” Raoul said. “I will continue to join with my fellow attorneys general to push back against the president’s unlawful actions.”
As of today, Peoria is one of the few counties in Central Illinois without wind turbines.
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