350 CHICAGO

Your bi-weekly newsletter for all things climate-related

September 1, 2021

Line 3 Protests

In Minnesota, indigenous and climate activists’ long struggle against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline expansion has intensified this summer. Many protestors, including Ojibwe organizer Winona LaDuke, have been arrested while protesting construction of the pipeline on the frontlines. Meanwhile, they have continued to fight Line 3 in court: a lawsuit filed in mid-July argues that regulators didn’t prove a need for the tar sands transported by the line, and protestors successfully took out a restraining order against a county sheriff. Activists fear that an energy security bill in the US House could be used to criminalize pipeline protests, citing state-level legislative attacks on protesting.

In addition to fossil fuels’ harm to the climate, the Anishinaabe people are concerned that spills and pollution from Line 3 will threaten their wild rice crops. Pipeline construction has already led to numerous frac outs, or spills of drilling fluid.

To learn more about the history of Line 3 and the protests, check out the Stop Line 3 website.

Key Development Reached in Promising Energy Frontier

On August 8, a government laboratory in Northern California reached a critical milestone in the pursuit of sustainable energy. The National Ignition Facility was able to use their state-of-the-art fusion reactor to ignite a self-sustaining burn producing 1.35 megajoules of energy output. While the energy burst only lasted for 100-trillionths of a second, it was a key breakthrough in a technology expected to produce a long-term net energy gain.

While many are familiar with nuclear fission, which takes place in modern nuclear reactors and is the result of splitting atoms to create energy, nuclear fusion takes the opposite approach by binding hydrogen molecules to create helium, the same way in which stars maintain their gaseous glow. During the process, 192 high-energy lasers fire on a miniscule capsule of hydrogen isotopes, heating it up to 100 million degrees Celsius and kickstarting a thermonuclear reaction. Scientists are expecting to create a reaction in which the energy output provides enough heat to be self-sustaining.

Project physicist Jayson Luc Peterson provides perspective on the milestone, stating, “This [is] about 1000x more energy output than we were getting when I joined the project 10 years ago.” The development comes at a time of much-needed optimism, after the latest report by the IPCC estimated with a high degree of confidence that global temperatures will reach the 1.5° C tipping point if current emissions trends continue. While economy-scale nuclear fusion will be a long-term development, the ignition threshold is still reason to be hopeful about the progress being made in a little-discussed field of research.

Call Your Illinois Legislators about Decarbonization

The Illinois General Assembly may vote on energy legislation in the coming days. Governor Pritzker is aiming for zero emissions from the power sector by 2045. That goal is not sufficient to address climate change. To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we must dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. To do so, we must close all fossil fuel plants in Illinois by that year, including natural gas plants and the Prairie State coal plant. Natural gas plants are responsible for emissions of methane, which has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, and the Prairie State plant is the seventh-largest polluter in the country. The longer we delay, the more climate change will disrupt the lives of people around the world, including in Illinois. Please call your legislators to ask them to support rapid decarbonization of the power sector and the closure of Prairie State. Thank you for taking action!

Get Involved with 350 Chicago

350 Chicago has launched the campaign to divest the state of Illinois! Similar initiatives in New York, New Jersey, Maine, and California have divested billions and increased momentum for further successes in fighting the climate crisis. Open to individuals and groups, the campaign will fight for fossil fuel divestment and clean energy reinvestments, while focusing on equity and justice for all Illinoisans.

WHEN: Every other Monday, 7:30pm - 9:00pm
HOW: Virtually via Zoom
RSVP: [email protected]

Upon joining the campaign, individuals and group representatives will participate in formulating, organizing, and driving strategies and tactics to divest the state from fossil fuels. Contributors can determine individual workloads based on their personal bandwidth. We simply ask volunteers to complete the tasks each agrees to undertake. We envision a collaborative, progressive, diverse group of individuals and organizations working together, with decision-making driven by the desire for justice, equity, and aggressive climate action.

The Illinois state government is not acting quickly enough to seriously address the climate crisis. More pressure must be applied to legislators and elected state officers.

Upcoming 350 Chicago Meetings & Events

Important: Please note that physical in-person meetings are subject to change due to the situation around COVID-19. Please contact committee leads or [email protected] for information regarding remote meeting arrangements.

Divestment Day of Action

Tuesday, September 14, 1:00-3:00 PM CST

350 Chicago is holding a Divestment Day of Action on September 14, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM CST! Take action by calling, emailing, or tweeting at your alderperson. For more information, view our Activist Toolkit. Keep an eye out for an email with a sample phone script, email, and tweets.

Help us push the City of Chicago to adopt a divestment ordinance written by 350 Chicago!

We will send out the language once we finalize with city officials.

The ordinance requires the city to immediately freeze any new investments in the top 200 fossil fuel companies and divest from direct ownership of any commingled funds, including fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds, within five years.

Alderman Maria Hadden is the chief sponsor for the ordinance. Some officials are resisting the move in favor of a policy that does not absolutely commit the city to sell off fossil fuel holdings within our time frame. This is not sufficient to protect Chicago and its future inhabitants!

Let’s make sure they move forward with full divestment!

Stay tuned and get ready!

Divestment Day of Action Photo

Give Lively Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Sunday, September 12 through Tuesday, September 21

To commemorate Zero Emissions Day, 350 Chicago has organized a Peer-to-Peer fundraiser through Give Lively. The fundraiser will run from Sunday, September 12, through Tuesday September 21, and the drive will help push 350 Chicago’s dedicated mission to divesting from fossil fuels.

What is peer-to-peer fundraising? The Give Lively platform leverages social media to raise money by asking your friends and followers to donate. Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for more information and updates. We will also send an email to our followers to provide further details on participating.

Let’s all pitch in and try to raise money with our friends and neighbors on social media. Every dollar raised matters, and we hope you will join us.

Watch for further updates over the next month up to the fundraiser kickoff!

Over the past six years, 350 Chicago has pushed the City of Chicago to divest from the top 200 oil, coal, and natural gas companies. Divestment fights the climate crisis by removing financial support for fossil fuel projects and infrastructure while diminishing the industry’s license to operate. 350 Chicago activists have had three resolutions and an ordinance introduced into the Chicago City Council, seeking to codify divestment into law. Through our organization's advocacy, two consecutive city treasurers have reduced fossil fuel holdings in the city’s operational budget from 1.6% to 0.5%.

Zero Emissions Day Flyer