Thanks to everyone who came out to support our action at State Senator Mike Hastings District office in Frankfort, IL on Friday, Aug. 27th. It was a balmy 94 degrees and the air was humid and thick. We stood at the corner of La Grange Ave. and Colorado for about half an hour before delivering a letter to Hastings’ office. I was surprised at the number of honks of support we got for our signs that read, “Close Prairie State Dirty Coal” and, “Carbon Free Illinois!” Neither Senator Hastings or his staff was in the office when we arrived at 3:00 PM, so residents of the 19th IL State Senate district signed the letter and slid it under his door.
Anna Schiefelbein with the Illinois Green Party, and a candidate for State Representative, said that the Green Party supports the concept of the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), but opposes the bailout for Exelon’s CEO and multi-millionaire, Chris Crane. Other speakers talked about their past meetings with Senator Hastings and how he is both a supporter of CEJA and a supporter of the labor energy bill (which is not a climate bill). She said that Hastings wants to run for higher office so he tends to walk the line on this issue. “Offend nobody” is a common practice for elected officials.
