This article duscusses the Pembroke Township community's rejection of Nicor Gas's plans to build out a natural gas pipeline to it. The gas company and the state commend the project, arguing that it will attract much needed industry to the area. However, being a small farming community, the locals are worried by the company's track record and reputation, which includes violations for dumping toxic chemicals and contaminating aquifer recahrge zones. Pembroke is one of the last historic Black farming communities in Illinois, and they see this pipeline as a threat to their community's health and their traditionaly way of life. The pipeline would also threaten many people's ability to stay in their homes, as many farms would be shut down through eminent domain in order to build it. While agreeing that their community has been largely marginalized in terms of economic and infrastructural development, they see other, cleaner and less destructive industries like renewables, emergency services, and broadband as more integral and safer pathways to success. In this vein, the article quoted the Illinois Environmental Council as follows, “This legislation only offers a false solution to the very real problems faced by a community disinvested for decades.”
Jena Brooker, "Does rural Illinois really need a new gas pipeline?", contributed by James Adams, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 6 July 2022, accessed 19 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/does-rural-illinois-really-need-new-gas-pipeline
Critical Commentary
This article duscusses the Pembroke Township community's rejection of Nicor Gas's plans to build out a natural gas pipeline to it. The gas company and the state commend the project, arguing that it will attract much needed industry to the area. However, being a small farming community, the locals are worried by the company's track record and reputation, which includes violations for dumping toxic chemicals and contaminating aquifer recahrge zones. Pembroke is one of the last historic Black farming communities in Illinois, and they see this pipeline as a threat to their community's health and their traditionaly way of life. The pipeline would also threaten many people's ability to stay in their homes, as many farms would be shut down through eminent domain in order to build it. While agreeing that their community has been largely marginalized in terms of economic and infrastructural development, they see other, cleaner and less destructive industries like renewables, emergency services, and broadband as more integral and safer pathways to success. In this vein, the article quoted the Illinois Environmental Council as follows, “This legislation only offers a false solution to the very real problems faced by a community disinvested for decades.”