Talking Chicago Environmental Smack with the Experts

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(June 13, 2021) I’ve been looking forward to talking Chicago environmental smack with these particular experts for awhile. Suzanne Malec-McKenna and Sandra Henry held important roles in guiding City of Chicago environmental policies in the past fifteen years or so. Both are friends of this show. And, as you might know, environmental policy keeps me awake at night. Especially when it’s failing policy. That’s my cross to bear, not yours.

Under Mayor Richard M. Daley, Malec-McKenna was Commissioner of the Chicago Department of the Environment. That department was axed when Rahm Emanuel became mayor. He apparently decided that one person could handle all of the environmental questions in the City. More than one critic viewed the move as a way to bury environmental issues. Either way, the Chief Sustainability Officer position was born. Henry became Emanuel’s final CSO, which is a story in itself. I hope she tells it.

The genesis talking environmental smack on this show segment begins with an op-ed piece in the Chicago Sun-Times. In February of this year, Malec-McKenna made some pointed comments about environmental policy in Chicago.

As the city’s last Commissioner of Environment for the City of Chicago (Mayor Emanuel shuttered the department in 2012), and a member of Mayor Lightfoot’s Environment Transition Team, I feel a disappointment that edges into anguish — less for the administration’s lack of progress and more for its outright regression from any comprehensive environmental agenda or even vision for one.

Ouch.

Environmental justice and more

Needless to say, that caught my attention. As did her criticism of current Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s failure to live up to a campaign promise to restore the Department of the Environment. The Chicago Tribune took a swipe at her in an article in April of this year.

She also promised to bring back the Department of the Environment, but her first budget included funding to hire one person for the office,as previously reported by the Better Government Association. Some aldermen refer to it as the “Cubicle of the Environment.”

Ouch again. You can call it a forgotten campaign promise or you can call it bait and switch. In fact, I voted for Lightfoot–twice–because of that promise. I’m not likely to make that mistake again, unless some things change. But I digress.

Malec-McKenna wasn’t the first to notice that the Lightfoot Aministration wasn’t living up to its campaign promises. The Better Government Association was on the case in December 2019. Since then, things haven’t gotten any better. Yes, the worldwide pandemic intervened. But, you know what? Every city, every state, every country had to deal with that. Which moves us to issues like the General Iron move to the southeast side.

Why did it take an EPA intervention to get the Lightfoot Administration to back off from its plan to allow the company to establish a pollution-spewing operation there? Why does Chicago’s southeast side continue to get the short end of the stick? That’s one of the questions we will address on today’s show.

Did I mention recycling?

Speaking of talking Chicago environmental smack, we’re certainly going to train our sites on Chicago’s abysmal recycling rate. That’s something we have done on this show here, here and here. That might have something to do with my checkered past–a six year stint as president of the Chicago Recycling Coalition.

We’ll also look at the ways that Chicago is moving forward. Just this week, the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee created a 13-member Urban Forestry Advisory Board. While it is strictly advisory, the board represents a focus on trees that the City has lacked for two administrations. Also, Sandra Henry reports that she is part of a recently announced Building Decarbonization Working Group. According to the City of Chicago,

Currently, buildings account for 70% of Chicago’s greenhouse gas emissions and the City must reduce energy consumption in buildings to meet its long-term climate goals. The Working Group will recommend policies and programs for an equity-focused building emission reduction strategy that lowers economic burdens on residents and businesses, reduces energy insecurity for communities of color, and uses an equity lens to assess the cost and impact of these strategies. This effort will lead to a significant step towards the City’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement and power 100% of buildings citywide with renewable energy by 2035.

One more thing. Earlier this week, this story made headlines in Chicago. Up To 200 Birds A Night Die Crashing Into McCormick Place Windows. Turning Off Half The Lights Could Save Them, Study Finds. If I’m mayor of Chicago, those lights go out the next day. Or someone’s head rolls down the hallway. But, almost a week after that article was posted, has there been a change? Is it ever possible for the City to turn on a dime and enact responsible environmental policy? Perhaps we’ll all get some insight today.

Resumes

Sandra Henry is currently the Senior Director of Energy and Sustainability at Elevate, a nonprofit organization that designs and implements programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of the clean energy economy reach those who need them most. Before joining Elevate, Sandra served as the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Chicago, working to advance the city towards 100% clean energy by signing onto the Ready for 100 campaign, committing Chicago to electrify its bus fleet by 2040 and to a community-wide transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035. She was Senior Energy Efficiency Program Manager for ComEd for more than 7 years. Sandra has designed and managed energy programs for utilities in Minnesota and Illinois, and was chair of the Chicago chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council (now Illinois Green Alliance) in 2015-2016.

Suzanne Malec-McKenna served the City of Chicago for 17 years, first as head of the Natural Resources Division (later the Natural Resources and Water Quality Division) for 13 years, working to engage Chicagoans in programs like Green Corps and Chicago Conservation Corps and developing such programs as the North Park Village Nature Center, the Calumet Initiative and the Chicago Center for Green Technology. During her 4 years as Commissioner of the Department of Environment, she also oversaw the Permitting and Enforcement, Urban Management and Brownfield Reclamation and Energy and Sustainable Business Divisions. Malec-McKenna has held important positions with the Chicago Wilderness Trust, Openlands and other area environmental organizations.