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Q&A with Kyra Woods, Policy Advisor with the City of Chicago

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Q&A with Kyra Woods, Policy Advisor with the City of Chicago

While on staff with the Illinois Sierra Club, Kyra Woods established and facilitated The Ready for 100 Collective, a coalition of local environmental and community organizations working to ensure Chicago’s equitable transition to renewable energy. She is now a member of the Policy Team in the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor.

Q: What’s on the top of your mind these days?

A: A serious matter. I’m reflecting on the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. The issues it highlights are not new, but it underscores the need for ambitious and coordinated action. I’m grateful to have a team to work with, committed members across this department, with partners at the county level and—so essential—also at the community level. Together, we’re focused on addressing a range of environmental issues such as waste management, carbon reduction, and air and water quality.

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Reversing Environmental Rollbacks

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Reversing Environmental Rollbacks

In November 2017, I participated in a panel discussion on climate change policy in Indianapolis, headlined by a then-former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assistant administrator named Janet McCabe. She had left EPA at the beginning of the Trump administration and taken a post as director of the Environmental Resilience Institute at Indiana University. When asked what could be done to thwart the administration in its effort to roll back environmental protections, Ms. McCabe offered some ironic assurance.

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First Virtual Movie Club Night A Great Success

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First Virtual Movie Club Night A Great Success

The first-ever Virtual Movie Club Night kicked off on July 15 with a discussion of the documentary “The Ants and the Grasshopper,” directed by Raj Patel and Zac Piper. Exclusively for One Earth Collective Members (membership starts at $25 annually), the Virtual Movie Club will meet regularly to analyze environmental films, provide like-minded community, and promote change. New members are welcome to join at any time.

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How Community Solar Saves Us Money While Helping the Planet

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How Community Solar Saves Us Money While Helping the Planet

Like many other Oak Parkers, our family tries to live in an environmentally responsible way. We compost food waste, eat meat-free and organic, and drive electric cars. When we lived in a single-family house, we imagined installing solar panels on the roof, but it wasn't practical or, at the time, affordable. When we downsized into a condo, we faced the challenge of getting buy-in from our fellow owners to add a rooftop solar array, and the available space would have been too small to make much of a dent in our building’s electricity consumption.

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Biking Gears Up This Summer

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Biking Gears Up This Summer

Remember back in March, right after the COVID shutdown, and how empty the streets were of cars? It was a biker’s dream; many people took to the empty roads on two wheels. Fast forward to August, and the auto traffic has come roaring back. . . but biking is still a hot topic this summer.

Here are some tools and resources for you to have fun/get around/support equity/save the earth on your bike during August, September and beyond.

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UN Climate Summit Disappoints

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UN Climate Summit Disappoints

In her compelling address to the General Assembly, the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg upbraided world leaders and updated the numbers for them:

". . . . People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"

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Illinois Poised to Lead the Way on Clean Energy

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Illinois Poised to Lead the Way on Clean Energy

Interested in learning about the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) and Illinois’ transition to clean energy and environmental justice? Join us for a free discussion featuring:

  • Sen. Don Harmon

  • Rep. LaShawn Ford

  • Rep. Camille Lilly

  • Citizens Utility Board

  • Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition

  • Blacks in Green

  • Illinois Solar Energy Association


When: 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. Where: Unity Temple, 875 Lake St, Oak Park. Admission: Free. Advance registration is strongly recommended.

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See GreenBuilt Home Tour This Weekend

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See GreenBuilt Home Tour This Weekend

The GreenBuilt Home Tour offers you a look inside 18 sustainable, energy-saving homes in Northern Illinois, and allows you to meet the builders, designers, and homeowners who made these homes possible. This all takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 3 and 4.

The tour features two categories of homes: Twelve Certified Green Homes, meaning that third parties have verified their adherence to nationally recognized standards (you can visit these homes on either day of the tour), and six Green Renovation Homes, meaning that owners have embedded sustainable features into green projects (you can visit these on Saturday only).

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Author Finds Surprising Statistics on CO2 Emissions

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Author Finds Surprising Statistics on CO2 Emissions

Out of Oak Park, Forest Park, Maywood and Berwyn, one community earned the title of “greenest suburb” when comparing per capita carbon dioxide emissions, but the winner may surprise you.

Author, researcher and former Oak Park resident Susan Subak will reveal the answer on Wednesday, July 10, when discussing her 2018 book, “The Five-Ton Life: Carbon, America, and the Culture That May Save Us.” The presentation will include Susan’s research on the low carbon culture of west suburban Chicago compared to other environmental leaders on the East Coast, a slideshow and a book signing. The event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Oak Park Public Library Main Branch, 834 Lake St., in the Veterans Room on the second floor.

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Reduce Your Carbon Footprint During the Holidays

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Reduce Your Carbon Footprint During the Holidays

Visiting friends or family via airplane this holiday season? Don’t forget to bring Mother Earth a present by offsetting the carbon emissions from your flight.

Carbon offsetting involves financially supporting Earth-friendly projects, such as planting trees or building wind farms, which reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that your flight generated. Burning jet fuel produces carbon dioxide, one of the harmful greenhouse gases that is causing climate change.