Howard Learner, CEO of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said there is a heightened sense of urgency to address environmental issues, amid what he calls President Trump's "ideological assault on people and on our environment."
"The Trump administration is seeking to roll back so many of the key clean air and clean water protections that our country has, rolling back protections for public lands, really an assault on our core environmental values," he said.
Learner said some of the biggest environmental issues currently facing Chicago include increasing protections of wetlands, investing in public transportation and holding data centers accountable.
"They should be using water in a careful way," he said. "Lake Michigan water is a tremendous resource for all of us, but it's in high demand. And the data centers don't have a free card to get all the water they need and all of everybody else's electricity supply."
He also said we also need to better protect Chicago's beaches. Many have been closed due to contamination and shoreline erosion due to intense storms.
"The shoreline is facing challenges that there hasn't been in the past," Learner said. "We just need to rethink, in light of climate change, what can we do to modernize the shorelines' built environment to better protect it against the realities of more intense weather storm."
He said there are things Chicagoans can do in their daily lives to make a difference on the individual level.
"This is a time to be engaged in the political and the policy process," Learner said. "If you don't like what the Trump administration is doing when it comes to its assault and on the environment, get involved with an organization that is challenging that."
