Illinois

Coping with Coal Ash's Health Effects

This is the latest in our series of community coal ash profiles. This piece was written by Sierra Club Apprentice Lydia Avila. The community of Joliet, Illinois, identifies as many things – Midwestern, humble, and hard-working. Yet they also identify with something much less positive: being collateral damage. According to Joliet residents, they don’t even […]

Bruce Nilles Climate & Energy

Republican governor candidates deny climate change

Republican gubernatorial candidates in many states deny climate science. Check out these quotes.

Dan Watson Politics

Illinois governor's race: Quinn vs. Brady

Tell us what you know about the governor's race in Illinois. What's at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Jonathan Hiskes Politics

Even suburban Chicagoans want to invest in transit

The Chicago Tribune/WGN released a doozy of a poll Saturday finding a surprisingly large appetite for cutting highway expansion and redirecting the money to transit.

Jonathan Hiskes Cities

ComEd offers Illinois $500M in exchange for guaranteed profits

The gaul of this is hard to put to words. Commonwealth Edison, one of Illinois’ regulated utilities is seeking to take advantage of the state’s budget crisis by offering the state $500 million in exchange for a guarantee of the utility’s future profits. If there’s a better case to be made that a regulated utility […]

Sean Casten Politics

Erika Allen

Art: Nat Damm Erika Allen Projects Manager, Growing Power Chicago, Ill. Erika Allen grew up on a farm in Rockville, Md., working in the fields with her father. “We didn’t have a TV and we relied on a wood stove, but we were known as the ‘food family’ because we had so much food. We […]

Grist staff Culture

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Dick Durbin In this letter to Grist reader and Illinois constituent Kevin Wolz, Sen. Dick Durbin signals strong support for the Kerry-Boxer climate bill: Dear Mr. Wolz, Thank you for contacting me regarding the creation of a national “cap-and-trade” program to address global warming. I appreciate hearing from you. Global warming is one of the most […]

Grist staff Politics

Roland Burris (D-Ill.)

Roland BurrisSen. Roland Burris sent this letter to Grist reader Kevin Wolz in early October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Burris says he supports many aspects of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill introduced in late September, particularly the provisions on nuclear power, agricultural offsets, and clean coal. Dear [Constituent]: Thank you […]