The Illinois Environmental Council

Curious about the quality of your indoor air?? Through Faith in Place's AirAware project, volunteers found health-harming pollution indoors at levels exceeding outdoor standards near gas-burning equipment. Read more in Chicago Tribune:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/01/opinion-chicago-indoor-air-quality-testing

Carol J. Williams and Patrick Shaw: We tested indoor air in Chicago homes. Illinois should pay attention. Many residents knew carbon monoxide could be dangerous at high levels. But far fewer knew about the health risks posed by nitrogen dioxide.

We are honored to welcome Lt. Governor candidate Christian Mitchell to the stage at our upcoming Environmental Leadership Dinner! A true champion of our state's clean energy policy, his voice is one you won't want to miss. Join us for an incredible night celebrating environmental change agents. 🌅

🎟️ It’s not too late to grab your seats—secure your dinner tickets today: https://ilenviro.org/2026-environmental-leadership-dinner/

The countdown to IEC’s 2026 Environmental Leadership Dinner is officially on! 🎉 ⏰

As we prepare to celebrate Illinois’ vibrant environmental community on October 2, our silent auction is open to everyone—whether you’ll be in the room or bidding from home!
In our latest blog post, we’re sharing some of our favorite items this year. We have a luxury Starved Rock treehouse getaway, custom art inspired by Illinois wetlands, a group upcycling workshop at Remade Chicago, a puppy-approved basket from Ruff Haus Pets, and an exclusive river tour with Urban Rivers!
No matter if you’re treating yourself or shopping for a good cause, every bid directly supports our work to protect Illinois’ environment and communities. 🌎

⭐️ Get the inside scoop on our top picks: https://ilenviro.org/five-silent-auction-items-im-especially-excited-about-this-year/
⭐️ Bid today: https://airauctioneer.com/2026iecauction

Introducing our Platinum and Gold Sponsors of our 2026 Environmental Leadership Dinner! Their generous support makes our dinner possible and helps us continue championing Illinois’ environment. We look forward to expressing our gratitude during our dinner festivities and celebrating decades of environmental progress with them next week.

Get your tickets today and support IEC’s mission in person! 🎟️ https://ilenviro.org/2026-environmental-leadership-dinner/

Whether or not you are joining us for the 2026 Environmental Leadership Dinner on Oct 2, you can still support us AND secure some fun experiences 🏕️ and goodies🍦 at the same time. How fabulous is that? Our silent auction is now LIVE.

Check it out: https://airauctioneer.com/2026iecauction

A single industrial factory farm can produce as much sewage as an entire city—and they aren’t even required to treat it. ‼️

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), or industrial factory farms, are quietly changing the rural landscape across Illinois. Thousands of animals are crammed into high-density facilities, creating millions of gallons of untreated manure stored in massive open pits. When that waste gets dumped onto nearby fields as fertilizer, it seeps into private wells, spikes dangerous nitrate levels, and flows straight into our rivers, triggering massive toxic algal blooms.

Your air is impacted, too. F***l dust and dangerous gases like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide float directly into neighboring yards, leaving families dealing with severe asthma and chronic headaches. Meanwhile, regulatory loopholes let these massive operations expand without neighbors ever getting a public hearing.

Illinois is one of the top water polluters of Mississippi River states, sending millions of pounds of toxic runoff into the Gulf of Mexico while risking drinking water right in our backyards. In our upcoming webinar, we're exposing how CAFOs impact our water, how Illinois stacks up against neighboring states, and what we can actually do to fix it.

💧 Cows and Contamination: How Factory Farms Pollute Your Water
📅 Tuesday, September 22, 2026
🕰️ 11:00am – 12:00pm CT

Register today: https://act.ilenviro.org/a/cows-and-contamination

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act is five! 🎉

Five years ago, Governor JB Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) into law, marking one of the nation’s most groundbreaking advancements in climate justice and equitable workforce transition.

CEJA does a lot of cool things – it puts Illinois on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2050, sets deadlines to close polluting coal and gas plants by 2045, and expands energy efficiency programs to help save Illinoisans money on their energy bills. One of the coolest aspects of CEJA? It prioritizes a just transition and ensures we’re lifting up workers in our efforts to achieve our climate goals.

The future we want to build will require and create millions of jobs. CEJA ensures that former fossil fuel workers and Illinoisans from low-income, environmental justice, and historically underserved communities are trained for those jobs. 🌞

Go on a ~tour by blog~ to see five of the Workforce Hubs made possible by CEJA, hubs that equip the next generation of clean energy workers in Illinois. Read what makes the Workforce Hubs so cool.

Read now! https://ilenviro.org/5-years-of-ceja-5-tours-with-iec-bearing-witness-to-illinois-growing-clean-energy-workforce/