The Illinois Environmental Council

🎉HISTORIC WIN: Two major climate bills are officially Illinois law! 📣

While the federal government rolls back climate and equity protections, Illinois is leading the nation by passing the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act and the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act!

Together with our partners in the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, we mobilized a climate majority in the Illinois General Assembly to pass these two bills last fall, accelerating our clean energy goals, lowering energy bills, and investing a historic $1.5 billion into public transit. As of today, CRGA and NITA are now law! ⚡️🚊

A huge thank you to our tireless staff, legislative champions, coalition partners, and every advocate who worked to make 2025 the year of climate! 🌎

BIG WIN! After *years* of advocacy, the IL General Assembly just passed SB3772, making historic progress for Illinois’ Environmental Justice (EJ) communities.

✅ Now, Illinois will have our first-ever legal framework for putting the needs of EJ communities ahead of big polluters’ agenda.

Here is how this landmark legislation helps our most polluted neighborhoods:

📣 EJ communities are typically low-income communities of color with high concentrations of industry, where air pollution can contribute to 5% of premature deaths and where asthma rates can reach 20% to 30% of children.

📊 SB3772 requires a cumulative impact analysis before new air permits are granted, evaluating the total combined pollution burden rather than looking at one facility in isolation.

🛑 If an assessment shows harmful impacts, the IEPA must consider changes before granting permits, allowing for tougher rules like improved air monitoring, fugitive dust controls, and increased testing.

As Jen Walling, CEO of IEC, put it: "This is a significant and meaningful step forward for communities who simply want clean air to breathe, and our work to secure that basic human right continues. We hope to secure greater protections for more communities in the future and the passage of the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance in Chicago.”

BIG BIG thank you to our incredible bill sponsors State Representative Lilian Jiménez and State Senator Celina Villanueva! We couldn't have done this without you, of course.

Special s/o to leaders on Governor JB Pritzker team, like Deputy Governor Bria Scudder and former Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell, IEPA Director James Jennings, and their policy teams for getting this done with us.

BREAKING! HB4418 just passed! IL law will officially recognize plastic pellets as a pollutant for the first time.

Yesterday marked three years since the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA ruling dismantled federal protections for our wetlands.

Since that day, millions of acres of wetlands have been left defenseless against pollution and development. Other states have stepped up to pass their own laws, but Illinois still has zero independent state protections.

Without state protections, our drinking water, wildlife habitats, and communities are at risk. Illinois cannot afford to wait any longer for state-level safeguards.

🚨 Take action and urge your legislators to protect our wetlands now! ➡️ https://act.ilenviro.org/a/wetlands-25

Tiny plastic pellets, or nurdles, are wreaking havoc on our rivers, streams, and the Great Lakes. Plastic pellets are only 3-5mm in diameter, and they easily wash into our waterways through industrial spills, stormwater runoff, and transportation. They also aren’t biodegradable, meaning they’ll break up into microscopic fragments that can harm aquatic wildlife and threaten public health for hundreds of years. 🌊

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, or HB4418, will require the Illinois EPA to create and implement rules for a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan to help keep plastic pellets out of our waterways and make plastic-makers responsible for their misuse of these dangerous materials.

📣 Take action now! Urge your State Senator to co-sponsor and vote YES on HB4418 to protect our water! ⬇️
https://act.ilenviro.org/a/pellets

On Endangered Species Day, it’s important to notice how even our smallest of creatures are the key to holding our ecosystems together. The Rusty Patched Bumblebee is a state and federally endangered species that was once a common flyer across our prairies. 🐝

When this specific bumblebee disappears, the dominoes begin to fall:

🌷 The Rusty Patch Bumblebee uses “buzz pollination,” which is a necessary trait for pollinating native IL wildflowers like Purple Coneflower and Milkweed. Without these bees, these plants can’t produce the seeds they need to survive.

🍅 We rely on this unique pollination for many of our favorite foods. They pollinate tomato, blueberry, and cranberry plants. If Rusty Patched Bumblebees dwindle, this can impact our food security and local economies.

🐦 Fewer seeds and fruit mean less food for IL birds and small mammals who depend on these plants for survival.

With less than 0.01% of our original prairie remaining in Illinois, we need to protect the species that are keeping this fragile ecosystem functioning. Every endangered species we help save ensures that our environment and communities continue to thrive. 🌿

Yesterday morning in Joliet, IEC stood alongside Warehouse Workers For Justice, GreenLatinos, Joliet Residents for Responsible Growth, and IL CleanJobs to demand that the Illinois General Assembly take immediate action on unchecked data center development.

The recent approval of the massive 800-acre data center in Joliet, projected to consume as much power as the entire city of Indianapolis, makes the need for state oversight even more urgent. Griselda Chavez with Warehouse Workers for Justice said it best: “We need local and state action that is rooted in collaboration with the people.”

State action is at our fingertips. Lawmakers must pass the POWER Act this spring to finally end backroom deals, ensure these massive data centers pay their fair share, and hold Big Tech accountable for their enormous energy and water consumption.

Join us in Springfield on May 30 for our POWER Act Lobby Day to directly advocate for the POWER Act ➡️ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuFPW1T_W3b3oc9yfJHyl988c2WZmOvM2734Xi1q59S0uePw/viewform