Local elected officials, state law makers and energy use experts spoke before a packed room last week at an event organized by Oak Park’s influential environmental activism group.
The Oak Park Climate Action Network held its annual “Brining Clean Energy Home to Oak Park” event at Oak Park’s Community Recreation Center on Monday, Jan. 26. A few dozen attendees packed into a conference room at the rec center to hear testimony from speakers on issues like federal funding cuts to sustainability programs, continued movement on energy and transportation legislation in Springfield and local energy programs launched by Oak Park’s village government in recent years.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and State Representative Camille Lilly, Illinois Environmental Council CEO Jen Walling and Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz addressed the crowd, along with Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman, Village Trustee Derek Eder, former Village Trustee Susan Buchanan, Oak Park Sustainability Chief Lindsey Roland Nieratka and OPCAN member Mac Robinet.
The event also featured informational tables providing advice on how to make your home more environmentally friendly.
Eder said local and statewide environmental sustainability efforts are more critical in light of the significant cuts to Federal spending on renewable energy seen during the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency.
“Billions of dollars spent on energy transition has been cancelled,” Eder said. “At the federal level, things are pretty grim. You just have to say that.”
But there are “causes for optimism” to be found in both Oak Park and Illinois, he said.
“The states and local municipalities have always been the engines of innovation when it comes to policy,” Eder said. “We are the ones leading the way, and we always have been. Your action matters.”
Harmon spoke to residents about sustainability gains made in last fall’s legislative session, which he described as “one of the most impactful and productive fall sessions” he’d been a part of.
Harmon highlighted the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, a wide-ranging law meant to increase renewable energy access and efficiency and set new standards for energy planning and storage, and the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, which provided $1.5 billion in funding for Chicago area public transportation service and reformed how the CTA, Metra and Pace transportation systems are managed together.
Harmon described the bills as two major wins for the state’s environmental sustainability efforts that wouldn’t have crossed the finish line without advocacy from groups like OPCAN.
“That’s really the theme with these two bills, we’re putting the people first,” Harmon said. “Folks want reliable energy, they want to flip the switch for the light to turn on and they don’t want the bill to make their jaw hit the floor when it arrives every month. With transit, people want to walk out their door and get to where they’re going without knowing whether they’re on a PACE bus or a CTA bus or an el train or Metra train; one schedule, one safe, clean, efficient, reliable network.”
“None of that would’ve happened, neither the energy bill or the transit bill, without people like you advocating and demanding that we do our jobs.”
Walling, an Oak Parker who previously served on Harmon’s legislative staff before moving to head the Illinois Environmental Council, said the transit bill was “so good she cried.” 2026 will be another key year for environmental reforms in Springfield, Walling said.
The legislature is expected to consider new regulations that could govern energy use at largescale data centers, potentially requiring companies to build out their own new clean energy supply in order to operate in Illinois.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of work on data centers this year.” Walling said. “It’ll be a good piece of legislation, but it will be hard to get done. It’s another issue where we’ll need you to hold lawmakers’ feet to the fire.”
