* AP at 8:09 am on October 30th…

A spokeswoman for Gov. Bruce Rauner says Illinois environmental officials are working to abide by new federal power plant limits that are being challenged by more than two dozen other states.

Rauner responded cautiously after the early August unveiling of President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from domestic power plants.

Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly tells The Associated Press the Illinois EPA “is still reviewing the rule and determining potential compliance pathways.”

* Greg Hinz on October 30th…

After months of holding fire, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Rep. Tammy Duckworth is ripping GOP incumbent Mark Kirk on what has been one of his traditional strengths in this left-leaning state: the environment.

In a statement, Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath accused the incumbent of “gestures (that) do not get emptier than this” and charged Kirk with trying to kill a needed clean-power plan.

But Team Kirk suggested Duckworth is trying to curry favor with green groups that are helping finance her campaign and described the senator as an “aggressive” advocate of cleaning up the Great Lakes.

At issue is Kirk’s decision earlier in the week to formally oppose the limits on power plants proposed by President Barack Obama. The president says the limits are needed to curb greenhouse gases and carbon pollution, but conservatives say there would be a big economic cost, with Kirk citing the potential impact on Illinois’ coal industry.

* AP at 1:07 pm on October 30th…

A spokeswoman for Gov. Bruce Rauner says Illinois officials are still reviewing their options regarding federal power plant limits being challenged by more than two dozen other states.

Rauner responded cautiously after the August unveiling of President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from domestic power plants.

Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly says the Illinois EPA “is still reviewing the rule and determining potential compliance pathways.”

The governor’s office says the AP made a mistake with its original report and the second story is the accurate one. An AP employee didn’t respond to an e-mail asking for clarification, but the quote remained the same, so I’m betting it was an error. Either way, the governor can take action without legislative authority here and he is one of just a tiny number of governors who won’t say where they stand.

* Hinz on November 4th…

Attorney General Lisa Madigan today joined attorneys general from 17 other states in seeking to intervene in a case pending before a U.S. Court of Appeals that could block proposed anti-carbon pollution rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The rules have been bitterly attacked as an over-reach by much of the power industry, with attorneys general from other states moving to overturn them in court.

* The usually staunchly pro-coal Southern Illinoisan on October 31st…

Thumbs up to the Rauner administration for its willingness to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency clean air standards.

More than two dozen states are suing the federal agency, looking to upend the limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Illinois, however, is researching ways to comply, according to Rauner’s staff.

Climate change is real. And policies such as the EPA’s are an appropriate response.

* Kurt Erickson today…

Lawmakers who represent Illinois coal country are bristling at Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s decision to support the Obama administration’s new clean energy rules.

With the rules expected to impact coal production and coal-burning power plants, members of the Illinois House and Senate say jobs in their downstate districts could be lost if the administration beats back a challenge from states that oppose the regulations.

“It does strike a chord with me. I don’t appreciate that,” state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said Thursday. “I want Lisa Madigan to be attorney general for the whole state. We are one big state. We cannot live without these coal jobs.”

Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in coal production, with nearly 5,000 miners earning an average salary of about $85,000 per year. The number of miners has been reduced by more than half over the past 20 years because of increased regulation and mechanization.

Phelps represents Saline County, one of the top coal producing counties in Illinois.

* Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated development…

Dynegy says it’s closing its Wood River [coal-fired] Power Station in southern Illinois because of economic reasons.

The company said in a news release Wednesday it’s closing the 465-megawatt facility in Alton because of its “uneconomic operation” in a “poorly designed wholesale capacity market” in central and southern Illinois. That system, the company said, doesn’t allow generators to recover costs.

The facility has to compete in capacity auctions, Dynegy said, with plants in other states with regulated markets and higher guaranteed compensation.

“Mixing these two regulatory regimes together in the same capacity auction puts all generating units in central and southern Illinois at financial risk regardless of fuel type, shifting jobs and the economic benefits of hosting generating plants from central and southern Illinois to neighboring states,” Dynegy said.