Hope for a Cleaner Future

I was surprised to find that the Patch did not write about either the extinction rebellion protests or the Climate Strike in Chicago which occurred over the last month. I’m a Darien native working in restoration of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. I’m lucky that my job addresses the repercussions of climate change, but in Illinois we, and our lawmakers, just aren’t doing enough.

Twice every year my parents would take my siblings and I vacationing in pristine rural Michigan, where I grew an appreciation for the beauty of nature and realized my responsibility to fight for the planet. My desire to take action for the environment lead me to my career in restoration of natural areas like the ones I grew up with. But it wasn’t an easy road. I was already working more than 40 hours weekly in manual labor and volunteering twice a week to gain the experience I needed to find a career where I could live my values. Due to scattered funding sources, professional positions in environmental conservation are scarce and unreliable. And this is just the conservation sector.

Mitigating climate change will require a fundamental shift in the way we make energy, and that will change the jobs that accompany the energy sector. The state of Illinois needs to prioritize job creation in sectors that can help us move to a sustainable future. I’ve learned so much at my job through training programs, and I can honestly say I love my job. I want to see more jobs like mine available to Illinois’ workforce, -dignified, safe, well-paid, and accompanied by benefits. The Clean Energy Jobs Act would create Workforce Hubs, a network of frontline organizations that provide direct support for minority and disadvantaged communities, - and creates preference for companies which ensure equitable representation in Illinois’ clean energy workforce.

Far more progress needs to be made in terms of supplying people with living wage jobs that address the needs of our changing planet. My senator, John Curran, is capable of making this change by enacting the Clean Energy Jobs Act in the veto session this October.