By: Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says Illinois could play a key role in the nation’s long-term energy strategy.
Matt Koch of the Chamber says the U.S. will need 21 percent more energy by 2025. That puts Illinois, which produces ethanol and includes a number of coal mines and oil fields, at the forefront of domestic resources. “It positions you as one of the leaders,” Koch says. “As a producing state but also as a state that has a lot of demand.”
Koch says the U.S. must remove the barriers to long-term energy solutions. That includes restricting oil drilling protected federal areas, regardless of the environmental consequences.
Koch says it will take a combination of conventional and alternative sources of energy for the U.S. to become energy self-sufficient.