► APRIL 2021 NEWSLETTERÂ
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Electric School Buses Exemplify ELPC’s Multifaceted Approach to Healthy Communities
Students in the Pekin and Hollis School Districts will soon ride Illinois’ first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric school buses which hit the road last week. After ELPC and allies fought to shut down the highly polluting Edwards coal plant nearby, local organizations were able to direct settlement funding towards community health and economic opportunities, including the new buses. Replacing dirty diesel school buses with this clean technology will protect children from harmful tailpipe emissions, which can contribute to childhood asthma and damage their growing lungs.
Pekin’s new buses are great for kids’ health, but they can help the energy grid too. With such a large battery, an electric school bus can store energy and feed it back to the grid during down times on hot days when demand is high. This V2G technology is a game-changer for building a more resilient clean energy system.
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 Â WILD AND NATURAL PLACES
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Lake Huron’s famous “shipwreck alley” is at the heart of the nation’s only freshwater marine sanctuary outside Alpena, Michigan. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Commerce proposed cutting the size of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary by 90%. We have called on the new Commerce Secretary to remove the “review” and protect the sanctuary’s full borders.
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 Â CLIMATE CHANGE
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ELPC commends the nomination of Hoosier Janet McCabe to be EPA Deputy Administrator. McCabe has dedicated her life to improving the environment and fighting climate change, especially here in the Midwest. She served the EPA under the Obama administration before joining the senior team in ELPC’s Indiana office and the Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute.
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 Â CLEAN ENERGY
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REAP has proven its worth, so the time has come to expand and support it with more ambitious farm energy efforts. With increased funding and policy improvements, REAP 3.0 can provide climate solutions and rural infrastructure investment. Investing in sustainable rural infrastructure is investing in the future of America.
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 Â CLEAN AIR
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We stand with the community advocates who are challenging the siting and operation of the General Iron metal scrapping facility on the Southeast Side of Chicago. ELPC joined 25 other organizations in an open letter to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Acting EPA Region 5 Administrator Cheryl Newton, calling for legal action to stop this polluter from moving to an already-overburdened neighborhood.
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 Â CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
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As Congress considers President Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure package, ELPC and other Illinois organizations urge local agencies to focus on key priorities. Smart investments in region-wide mobility can improve our economy and connect our communities, but it is critical that these investments are shaped by sound planning and transparency.
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 Â ACTION CENTER
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 Â UPCOMING EVENT
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ELPC Earth Day CelebrationÂ
When: April 22, 2021
Time: 4:00pm CT
US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)Â
Chicago Mayor Lori LightfootÂ
and more
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CONVERSATIONS WE'RE FOLLOWING
- Governing OpEd: Public Participation and Why Zoom Alone isn’t Good Enough
- Midwest Energy News: Anti-Corruption Measures are Crucial to Clean Energy, Illinois Coalition Says
- AP: DeWine Picks Ex-Judge as New Ohio Utility Commission Chair
- Chicago Sun-Times:Â Illinois Legislature Must Power Up Ethics Reforms for Utility Companies
- Bridge Magazine Op-Ed: No Matter your Politics, Clean Energy is a Winner for Michigan
- Chicago Tribune: Environmental Groups Move to Push Fish Kill Case Forward Against Indiana Steelmaker
- Minneapolis Star Tribune: Is Enbridge Line 3 Needed? Key Question Lands before Minnesota Appeals Court
- PV Magazine: Making a Case for a Standalone Energy Storage ITC
- Bridge Magazine: Too Few Farmers are Curbing Pollution in Lake Erie. Should They be Forced?
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We're all in to protect the Midwest's environment.
Founded in 1993, the Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest's leading environmental legal advocacy organization. We advocate, innovate, and litigate to protect the Midwest's environment from the Great Lakes to the Great Plains.
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