Illinois residents are hearing about the Clean Water Funding Fairness Act that passed the Illinois House and Senate on May 22. This bill makes factory farms, or CAFOs, pay an annual fee for their permits to discharge pollution; these permits are required by the federal Clean Water Act. Until now, factory farms were the only industrial […]
In The News
Starved Rock State Park at Center of Illinois Frac Sand Fight
Access pdf of this story here. The proposed mine would be located directly across the road from the park. The sand from the mine will be used for natural gas “fracking,” a controversial process used to mine greater stores of natural gas. Prairie Rivers Network and others are concerned that noise and dust from the mine will […]
LTE: Coal Company’s Plan Threat to Environment
Scott Dossett of Urbana, IL wrote a Letter to the Editor to the News-Gazette raising questions about the proposed Sunrise coal mine in Vermilion and Champaign counties. Read his Letter to the Editor (PDF form) published in the News-Gazette on May 30, 2012. Share this story!
Crop Insurance Subsidies Should be Linked to Land Stewardship
Congress must demand a higher return for the environment in exchange for our more than $8 billion annual investment in agricultural subsidies. Maintaining the status quo is a risky over-reliance on largely voluntary measures that have and will fall short of keeping our waters clean.” Agricultural pollution is a top cause of degraded rivers and […]
Run for Your Rivers!
As the days get longer and the weather starts to warm, runners will hit the roads in Illinois, training for racing season. Many runners have been out there all along, slogging through snow and mud (though it has been a pretty mild winter!). Whether you have been training hard or taking it easy, Prairie Rivers Network […]
