My name is Francesca Butler. I am a member of the Environmental Justice Task Force of the Faith Union for the Common Interest. I am deeply concerned about our community and environment.
I am currently a graduate student with a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Illinois at Springfield, so I am particularly interested in this purpose. My passion for the environment was not a coincidence. Instead, it was caused by growing up near a heavily polluted town in Metro East near St. Louis. My grandmother and father, like many other members of my family, have health problems that can be primarily due to the dangerous environmental conditions caused by the fossil fuel industry. I refuse to be lazy while another industry is once again threatening my community, Springfield. Springfield has been called home for the past six years.
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The proposal for a liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline to pass through central Illinois and end at a permanent isolation (or storage) facility near Taylorville has attracted the attention of our task force. I did. Some supporters claim that such projects are useful to community members and the environment, but we believe this is clearly a mistake. For one thing, we should work to end our dependence on fossil fuels. Such pipelines instead prolong Americans’ dependence on land, water, and energy sources that are detrimental to human health. In fact, to protect the interests of the fossil fuel industry, these pipelines allow businesses to supercondense carbon dioxide emissions into a liquid state and move them far from where they are produced. In this case, dump it. , Central Illinois. Farmers and other landowners who allow pipeline construction and carbon sequestration on their land will permanently damage soil and drainage tiles, jeopardizing future crop yields and asset values. I take a serious risk.
But even more worrisome, pipelines pose a risk to human health! In the summer of 2020, a damaged liquid CO2 pipeline (similar to the one proposed in central Illinois) had a serious impact on a small town in Satartia, Mississippi. Due to the massive release of CO2 from the pipeline, many people were hospitalized with respiratory symptoms, convulsions, and unconsciousness.
Part of the problem is that there are few federal regulations to cover new, little-proven technologies for carbon recovery and sequestration. Instead, liquid CO2 pipelines and storage facilities are kept to the same standards as those that manage oil pipelines. Oil pipelines pose very real risks in their own right, but CO2 pipelines burst with explosive power, not only endangering human health and life, but also becoming economically important farmlands. It may cause damage.
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There are better options for dealing with climate change to avoid these risks. We attended the Sangamon County Board of Directors on May 5, warning the Board on this issue and raising serious concerns. Community stakeholders such as CommonGood’s Faith Coalition are against this pipeline.
It is the mission of the Union of Faith to promote racial equality, citizenship involvement, a fair economy and participatory decision-making. The Faith Coalition hosts a parliamentary forum for candidates in the 13th Parliamentary District. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7th, from 6pm to 7:30 pm at the Lincoln Library on 326 S. Seventh Street in Springfield. The forum is open to the public.
For more information, please visit www.faithcoalition-il.org or email: fccg2208@gmail.com.
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