State Senator Chapin Rose says that when the Mahomet Aquifer bill that he and Senator Paul Faraci worked on finally reaches the governor’s desk, Governor Pritzker will have a second chance to do the right thing.
The bill, which would prevent carbon-dioxide storage from taking place underneath the aquifer, has been passed unanimously in the State Senate and is now in the House. Rose says the safety of the water in the Mahomet Aquifer, which provides water from Northern Vermilion County, all the way west to the Missouri border; should absolutely not be messed with. But he says thanks to the governor’s over-ambitious carbon sequestration ideas, it was.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: And of course, if that were to get into the water, it would convert to carbonic acid; which causes all kinds of health problems. And it’s really just a terrible idea. Well then it turns out his big test site, which he said was so safe, over in Decatur; actually had two leaks in it. And that tells you, it should tell everybody, that this was a really bad idea.
Rose says if things go as well in the House as they did in the Senate, this bill would arrive on the governor’s desk with a veto-proof majority. But still, what would the governor do? The way Rose sees it, it was Pritzker’s presidential aspirations that caused this problem in the first place. He wanted to do something for the carbon-dioxide issue to show that he’s a “green candidate,” Rose says. But at the same time, Rose says, he’d end up sacrificing the safety of water very much needed by residents, businesses, and agriculture.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: And he used this as part of his “Democratic party, primary party platform;” by trying to be “green.” Because he wants to use the Mahomet Aquifer to solve this carbon-dioxide problem. Well, the problem is, he can’t poison our water in the process of solving the carbon-dioxide issue.
Senator Rose also mentioned to CIMG that he wants all of Vermilion County to know that the April 26th Vietnam Veterans tribute in Georgetown was certainly “an absolutely amazing Patriotic and American moment.”