Illinois’ Solar Industry Faces Collapse From Funding Deficits

By Steve Bynum
Green Roof Illinois
Construction is almost finished on the Illinois Department of Agriculture Building roof which is being transformed into a 22,000-square-foot roof covered with live plants and solar panels at the Illinois State Fairground in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, June 23, 2010. This is part of a $1.8 million project to replace the old, badly leaking roof with an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly installation. Seth Perlman / AP Photo
Green Roof Illinois
Construction is almost finished on the Illinois Department of Agriculture Building roof which is being transformed into a 22,000-square-foot roof covered with live plants and solar panels at the Illinois State Fairground in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, June 23, 2010. This is part of a $1.8 million project to replace the old, badly leaking roof with an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly installation. Seth Perlman / AP Photo

Illinois’ Solar Industry Faces Collapse From Funding Deficits

By Steve Bynum
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The Illinois General Assembly is in lame-duck session this week. One agenda item is to consider funding to bolster the state’s solar energy industry.

Reset talks with analysts who say the state’s solar industry could collapse without more funding.

GUESTS: Karen Weigert, executive vice president at Slipstream, a clean energy innovation non-profit; former chief sustainability officer at the city of Chicago

Jessica Collingsworth, lead Midwest energy policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists