The Climate Reality Project - Chicago Metro Chapter

Please join us for 350 Chicago's next Monthly Speaker Event: a webinar on 2/27 @6:30pm featuring IL State Climatologist Dr. Trent Ford, who will cover the basics of climate change and speak about how it will affect Illinois. You can register using the QR code below or using the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_JmDSHuoYRk6nVy7QUYg3og

Please share this post! And teachers, consider using this webinar in your classes. Register for the event, and you will get a copy of the recording sent to your email. You can then use it in your classrooms whenever you choose.

Our chapter’s Chicago Team is working on emissions from large campus buildings, which are among the worst offenders.

McGowan North listed as fourteenth highest emitting building per square foot in Chicago DePaul’s McGowan North is the fourteenth highest greenhouse gas emitting building per square foot in Chicago, city data shows. Five other DePaul buildings – McGowan South, the Lincoln Park Student Center, The DePaul Center, Centennial Hall and the Holtschneider Performance Center – were also l...

This article is about the work our chapter’s Chicago team is doing on emissions from large campus buildings. They are some of the biggest emitters in the city.

McGowan North listed as fourteenth highest emitting building per square foot in Chicago DePaul’s McGowan North is the fourteenth highest greenhouse gas emitting building per square foot in Chicago, city data shows. Five other DePaul buildings – McGowan South, the Lincoln Park Student Center, The DePaul Center, Centennial Hall and the Holtschneider Performance Center – were also l...

Exclusive: White House set to back tougher climate model for ethanol, sources say President Joe Biden's administration is poised to announce an adjustment to its scientific modeling for ethanol that will show the corn-based fuel to be less effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions than previously estimated, three sources briefed on the plans told Reuters.

Fill | Chicago Moves Electric Survey Share your input! The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is developing its Electric Vehicle and Mobility Strategy. Please take our survey to share your experiences around electric vehicles and mobility. Public feedback will be used to help shape the City’s approach to electrification over...

Nearby residents can make claims. The settlement also requires MAT Asphalt make about $900,000 worth of improvements to the facility by April 30. Those improvements include a “blue smoke control system” atop its hot-mix silo, a dust control plan, a rule that all trucks leaving the facility must use tarp covers and the planting of 25 additional trees on the site, among other changes.

Got Questions About MAT Asphalt's Lawsuit Settlement? Get Answers At A Public Meeting Next Week Lawyers representing the McKinley Park neighbors who sued the plant are hosting the meeting Tuesday in Humboldt Park. A judge recently approved a $1.2 million settlement in the case.

If Trump Wins, Here’s What He’ll Do on Climate Change We read the Heritage Foundation’s 920-page 2025 action plan so you don’t have to.

It's time for in Chicago!

Join us next Tuesday, Feb. 20, to call Sierra Club members and supporters to urge their alders to support the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance.

RSVP: [email protected],-87.62553" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002ICpJAAW&mapLinkHref=https://maps.google.com/maps&daddr=Clean%20and%20Affordable%20Buildings%20Ordinance%20(CABO)%[email protected],-87.62553

A century of reforestation helped keep the eastern US cool, study finds Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along with a decrease in carbon emissions.

“After decades of progress in the U.S. toward cleaner air, climate change-related events will cause a steady deterioration through 2054.”

Climate change is reversing U.S. air quality gains The biggest climate change-related air quality trends are centered across the West, the report finds.

See what you can save by going electric! Try out our free savings calculator and join the millions of Americans who are cashing in and upgrading their homes with cleaner, faster, and more efficient appliances and vehicles — all made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Hottest January on record pushes 12-month global average temps over 1.5 degree threshold for first time ever

https://act.ilenviro.org/a/cleanbuildingschicago?

Chicago Needs Clean and Affordable Buildings! Did you know that more than two thirds of all Chicago’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings? Although our state is on path to 100% clean energy by 2045, most of our buildings still run on fossil fuels. Take action now & tell your alderman to support Clean Buildings in Chicago!

A new report has found that bans on plastic bags around the U.S. have already reduced the number of bags used by BILLIONS!

The report, “Plastic Bag Bans Work”, found that bans in three states — New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Vermont — and two cities, Portland, Oregon, and Santa Barbara, California, have reduced the number of single-use plastic bags used each year by around 6 billion. This number of bags could go around the planet 42 times.

Further, the findings suggested that plastic bag bans could cut single-use plastic bag use by around 300 bags per person each year once adopted.

According to the report, over 500 municipalities in 28 states had plastic bag legislation in effect as of 2021. Additionally, 12 states have single-use plastic bag bans: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. State-wide bans in Colorado and Rhode Island just went into effect at the start of 2024.

But the report did outline some grievances, including that companies have used loopholes, replacing thin, single-use plastic bags with thicker plastic bags labeled as recyclable in some places with legislation that allows replacing bags with thicker, recyclable (but still plastic) bags. Some areas have also swapped the plastic bags for paper, which are still single-use bags, with or without a fee.

The report authors concluded that policymakers should implement well-designed plastic bag bans that do not promote the use of any single-use plastic bags, including ones labeled as recyclable, as well as charging a fee for the use of paper bags to instead encourage the use of reusable bags.

Shoppers who live in areas with existing bans can calculate the impact of their local plastic bag bans with the Bag Savings Calculator by Environment America.

🔗 Link in bio
🖊️ Paige Bennett
A customer exits a supermarket with paper bags after shopping in New York City, New York on March 1, 2020. 📸 Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Getty Images.

What’s on the climate calendar for 2024? Read our latest blog to learn what we’re looking out for this year in the climate space.
www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/4-big-climate-stories-watch-2024

The World Hit ‘Peak’ Gas-Powered Vehicle Sales — in 2017 While internal combustion vehicles will make up the majority of US deliveries this year, electric cars are taking a larger share of global auto sales.

What Are The Different Types of EV Charger? There are three categories of EV chargers according to their charging speed (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3), and knowing the difference is vital for EV owners.

Enbridge announced that it is laying off workers. Presumably, to hoard its cash. Will this action put the Great Lakes at an even greater risk of an oil spill from Line 5 - America's Most Dangerous Pipeline?

Please take a look at the link in the first comment to read about the letter OWDM sent to the federal regulatory body asking them to look into this.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=825290702974482&id=100064806787946

Today, we joined dozens of groups across Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan to call on hydrogen fuel developers to stop trying to subvert common sense federal rules. If MachH2 proceeds with this strategy, they can expect stiff opposition from our coalition. ilcleanjobs.org/MACH_H2

While diesel trucks only make up 7% of vehicles on the road, they create 67% of the dangerous pollution. Legislation in Springfield will address the disproportionate burden of pollution and increase the availability of clean vehicles. https://bit.ly/ilcleanvehicles

Ice storms, January downpours, heavy snow, no snow: Diagnosing ‘warming winter syndrome’ As the climate changes and weather warms, the freezing line is shifting, bringing rain and ice to regions not prepared for it.

Great Lakes’ ice cover doing almost the unthinkable With this warm winter and the warmth coming in early February, the Great Lakes may have already reached its milestone this year.

Letter responding about ban on gas.

Voice of the people The editorial “Chicago should cool down on banning natural gas in new buildings and let this be debated statewide” (Jan. 28) includes erroneous assumptions about natural (methane) gas that the Tribune Editorial Board should revisit. We are in the midst of a climate emergency, so bold action like...

Climate change has killed 4 million people since 2000 — and that’s an underestimate “Nobody is counting it, and nobody is moving in the direction of counting it."

“For too long, government has rubber-stamped export projects without fully considering how they impact the climate crisis, communities, and the economy. This change signals that the White House is willing to build on its landmark efforts to expand clean energy by moving away from approving new fossil fuel projects that undermine climate progress.”

Why the Biden Administration's Shift on Gas Exports is a Big Deal This change halts Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) and 16 other proposed gas export projects.