In This Issue
September Events
9/3 - Paths to Regional and Intercity Rail Expansion: A Closer Look at NITA
9/4 - Learn about the Proposed O’Hare Flyer
9/10 - 350 Climate Solutions Series: The Other Greenhouse Gas - Reducing Methane to Help End the Climate Crisis
9/12 - Fall Nature Fest
9/20- 350 Chicago at Buffalo Grove Green Fair
9/27- 350 Chicago at the Northcenter Sustainability Market
Action Center
Become a Monthly Sustainer!
Online Petition: Climate Safe Pensions
Online Petition: Utility Transparency Act
Climate News
UNEP Report: The Time to Turn Back Is Now
Trump to Lower Vehicle Emission Standards
Trump Seeks to Sell Parcel of Yosemite National Park Land for Private Development
Main Article
Ideas for How to Make a Dent on Climate
Events
Paths to Regional and Intercity Rail Expansion: A Closer Look at NITA
Thursday, September 3rd (6:00pm - 7:00pm)
Sierra Club Illinois Chapter, 70 E Lake St Ste 1500, Chicago, IL 60601 and Zoom
REGISTER HERE (For free!)
Last Halloween, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act, creating new opportunities to transform passenger rail across Illinois. The legislation includes funding for Amtrak service between Chicago and the Quad Cities, a study to expand Metra Electric service to Kankakee, and a transition toward more frequent, all-day regional rail service.
Join the September 3rd Sierra Club Illinois chapter biweekly Chicago state lobby team meeting to learn what NITA means for the future of passenger rail and sustainable transportation in Illinois.
Learn About the Proposed O’Hare Flyer
Friday, September 4th (noon - 1:00pm)
Zoom Meeting
REGISTER HERE (For free!)
The O’Hare Flyer is a proposed privately funded rail project that would connect downtown Chicago to O’Hare Airport in just 15 minutes. Using underutilized freight rail corridors, the battery-powered trains would run between Terminal 2 and a station near the Old Post Office, providing connections to Union Station and other transit options.
Join the meeting to learn more about this exciting proposal from its lead engineer and Chief Development Officer, Mark Walbrun.
350 Climate Solutions Series: The Other Greenhouse Gas - Reducing Methane to Help End the Climate Crisis
Thursday, September 10th (6:00pm - 7:00pm)
Zoom Webinar
REGISTER HERE (For free!)
Methane gas is a super-pollutant green-house gas that doesn’t get the press that CO₂ does. While we have pumped far more CO₂ into our atmosphere, methane has a much larger warming impact, as much as 80 times more damaging. Methane comes from animal agriculture, leaking oil wells, and organic waste in landfills. A concerted effort to cut methane emissions is our fastest way to slow global warming.
Join 350 Chicago to hear from Stanford scientist and author Dr. Rob Jackson, Meg Baltes from Tradewater, which works to cut methane gas around the world, and Curtis Shuck, founder of Well Done, which focuses on capping orphan oil wells. Learn about the dangers and the solutions, and what you can do to contribute to the efforts.
Learn more about our speakers and register HERE (for free!)
Fall Nature Fest
Saturday, September 12th (12:00pm - 3:00pm)
LaBagh Woods, West Foster Avenue, N Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL 60630
RSVP here (For free!)
The biggest and best environmentally focused festival returns to LaBagh Woods this year on Saturday, September 12th!
Join us to learn more about your local environment, find ways you can get involved, and enjoy the Cook County Forest Preserves all in one place. Check out animals from the Brookfield Zoo, a performance from the Jesse White Tumblers, food trucks, music, giveaways, and much more!
Click here to RSVP and find additional information.
350 Chicago at Buffalo Grove Green Fair
Sunday, September 20th (8:00am - 12:30pm)
Mike Rylko Community Park, 1000 N Buffalo Grove Rd, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
If you’re up in Buffalo Grove come by to enjoy the green fair and stop by our table to chat about what we do, or sign a postcard in support of our Fossil Fuel Divestment and Utility Accountability campaigns. Hope to see you there!
via Buffalo Grove Park District: “This free event for the whole family will provide information and activities to help residents learn about the small steps they can take at home, work, and in the community to improve our environment and make Buffalo Grove a greener and healthier place to live.”
350 Chicago at the Northcenter Sustainability Market
Sunday, September 27th (10:00am - 4:00pm)
Northcenter Town Square, 4100 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
350 Chicago will be at the NorthCenter Sustainability market to collect postcards in support of our Fossil Fuel Divestment and Utility Accountability campaigns. For anyone in Chicago interested in sustainability this is a great opportunity to stop by the market, say hi, and sign some postcards!
via Reduce Waste Chicago: “Put on your reusable party hat and join us at our annual Sustainability Market! Whether you’re just starting your eco-journey or you’re a seasoned veteran, this is your chance to connect with local businesses, artists and organizations all focused on making Chicago more sustainable.
Discover zero-waste products, learn about composting, explore environmental advocacy groups, and find practical solutions for living more sustainably. From the eco-curious to the eco-committed, there’s something for everyone at this community celebration of sustainable living.”
Action Center
Become a Monthly Sustainer!
This summer brought another season of intense storms and harmful wildfire smoke to Illinois. As the federal government continues to undermine climate action, local leadership is more important than ever.
350 Chicago has built strong momentum over the past year and we need your support to keep it going.
This September, become a 350 Chicago Climate Sustainer. For as little as 11 cents a day, you can support year-round climate action and help build a fossil-free future.
Over the past year, 350 Chicago has:
Collected and delivered 2,500 postcards supporting the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act and 2,100 supporting utility transparency legislation;
Hosted a town hall on fossil fuel divestment;
Worked with pension board leadership on divestment strategies;
Grown the Climate Safe Pensions Illinois coalition to 44 organizations; and
Hosted 8 Speaker Series webinars, including programs on adopting EVs and solar in Illinois.
Your monthly gift will help power this work as we prepare for 2027, when both the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act and utility transparency legislation are expected to return to the Illinois legislature.
Monthly donations provide reliable support for our campaigns, community outreach, events, webinars, websites, and the organizing efforts of our 60+ volunteers.
The time is now. Become a Climate Sustainer today and help us build the long-term power needed to fight the climate crisis.
Donate and become a 350 Chicago Climate Sustainer
Online Petition: Climate Safe Pensions
Investments in fossil fuels are driving climate change, and they are becoming increasingly risky financial liabilities as well. On behalf of the Climate Safe Pensions Illinois coalition, we are asking Illinois legislators to sign the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act and protect our pensions! Lean more and sign: Climate Safe Pensions Petition!
Online Petition: Utility Transparency Act
Over the years, utilities have made it acceptable to recover some of their costs from ratepayers that we believe should never be passed onto ratepayers, such as their political lobbying efforts. We are asking our legislators to support the Utility Transparency Act and protect Illinois ratepayers. Learn more and sign: Utility Transparency Petition!
Climate News
UNEP Report: The Time to Turn Back Is Now
There’s a reason the arrow in our logo points backward: we need to move global temperatures (and greenhouse gas emissions) in the other direction.
In 2015, the Paris Agreement set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Unfortunately, a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that the world is likely to exceed this threshold within the next few years.
This should serve as a wake-up call. Every fraction of a degree above 1.5°C increases the risk of devastating climate impacts and tipping points, including catastrophic events like the recent glacial avalanche in Nepal. That makes it critical to keep any overshoot above 1.5°C as small and brief as possible.
We need solutions that rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while helping communities adapt to the climate impacts already underway. The longer we wait, the harder that task becomes.
“Every five years of delay in reducing emissions adds at least a tenth of a degree to peak warming, said report co-author Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Imperial College London.” - ABC News, Global warming will exceed limit, UN says
Trump to Lower Vehicle Emission Standards
President Trump recently announced he is going to significantly lower fuel efficiency standards that were set under the Biden administration. President Biden established a fleetwide average target by 2031 of 50.4 miles per gallon to auto manufacturers, and while Trump has not announced the specific new standard, estimates are that it will reflect the a proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that would bring the target down to 34.5 miles per gallon.
Once again, Trump is putting special interest groups and his friends above the needs of Americans and the planet as this will lead to more polluted air, more gas guzzlers on the roads, more reliance on foreign oil, and more delays in our progress towards clean energy solutions.
NHTSA estimated its proposal would cut new vehicle costs by $930 each. But it would increase fuel consumption by around 100 billion gallons through 2050, fuel spending by $185 billion and carbon dioxide emissions by about 5%. - Reuters, US to announce sharply lower vehicle fuel economy requirements
Sources:
Reuters, US to announce sharply lower vehicle fuel economy requirements
Jalopnik, The Trump Administration Is About To Gut Biden-Era Fuel Economy Standards
Trump Seeks to Sell Parcel of Yosemite National Park Land for Private Development
Trump’s National Park Service is considering selling off a portion of Yosemite National Park to a private developer. While this proposed land exchange may be small, it sets a dangerous precedent that national park land will no longer have the federal protections it once had before Trump. Considering his threat from day one to “drill baby, drill,” including by drilling on protected federal land, any transaction like this deserves the highest scrutiny from the public.
Sources:
CNN, Trump administration faces pushback after looking to privatize land on Yosemite National Park
The Guardian, Trump’s plan to sell off a part of Yosemite is what oligarchy looks like
Ideas for How to Make a Dent on Climate
by Joshua Horwitz
There are a lot of reasons to feel like trying to tackle a problem like climate change is too big for any one person to manage. If you feel that way, you aren’t alone: humans simply aren’t wired to respond to long-term threats with immediacy. So sometimes it can help to break down a big problem into smaller, more personable, and manageable chunks. Here are a few ideas if you’re looking for somewhere to start:
Buy an Electric Vehicle
Trump’s war on fuel economy standards might cause more gas guzzlers on the road, but there’s no reason that his decision has to affect your car. New EV options are expanding beyond Teslas, with Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, and other automakers making some really excellent EVs. EV charging is expanding rapidly across the US with networks like IONNA or even Walmart providing more options than ever. New 800-volt architecture on models like the Hyndai Ioniq 5 can charge from 10% to 80% in about 20 minutes.
If you’re interested in switching to EVs, we’ll have a lot more information and discussion on EV ownership in upcoming newsletters.
Use a Move or Renovation to Get more Efficient
Moving to a new home or need to replace an aging furnace? Consider some efficient options like heat pumps or upgrading windows in older homes which can drastically increase energy efficiency.
Making the switch from gas to induction stovetops can both reduce your gas usage and make for cleaner air in your home, especially for families with young children or people with sensitive respiratory conditions. Induction stovetops have come a long way from the old, outdated electric models that heated glass: induction stoves use magnetic power to heat pans directly, and can boil a pot of water in 2-5 minutes.
Sign a Petition
There are ways to reach out to elected officials that can make a meaningful dent even if they don’t take much time to do. This is because most people don’t take time to reach out to elected officials, so everyone who takes the time to do so is having a disproportionate impact.
We have two petitions you can sign now in Illinois, in our ‘Action Center’ above- our Climate Safe Pensions Petition and our Utility Transparency Petition. You can also come to our events and sign a postcard that we will hand-deliver to Illinois legislators. Or consider other great organizations like the Illinois Environmental Council, Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, who often have ways you can help quickly.
Donate or Volunteer
Depending on your time and capabilities, it can help out a lot to donate money to an organization, or give your time and volunteer. Right now we’re putting out a call for monthly donors through our Climate Sustainers program, or you can become a volunteer!
Remember Climate at the Ballot Box
The fact is that policies at a state and national level have a huge impact towards, or away from, progress towards climate change goals. Single decisions by one administration can create long-lasting impacts for the better or worse. Don’t fall into the trap of dismissing all politics or all politicians as the same: that won’t help solve climate action. Specifics matter, politics matter, and policies can drive real impacts. Make your voice heard, and make it count, when the time comes.