Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation

Our Press

Naperville Glancer Article - July 2008

 

Naperville Sun News Article - November 9, 2007

Council gives green light for emissions inventory

By KATE R. HOULIHAN Staff Writer

A grassroots environmental group that’s sprouted up in Naperville got a pleasant surprise Tuesday when the City Council gave the go-ahead to conduct a global warming emissions inventory. Members of Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation, or NCEC, turned out to urge elected officials to not only make environmental sustainability a priority for the coming year, but also to conduct the emissions inventory to chart where Naperville stood on matters of greenhouse gas emissions.”We’re very excited,” said Sarah Ralph, a member of NCEC. “We weren’t sure what was going to happen.”In May, a group of Kennedy Junior High students asked the council to consider signing Naperville onto the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, which asks local officials to meet or exceed emissions standards called for in the international Kyoto Protocol. Leaders voted against that move, but did want to see what Naperville was doing to help conserve resources.Ralph said some residents felt so strongly that tackling emissions was the right thing for Naperville to do that they decided to do some outreach to others who might share their sentiments.”I’d say we’re at the beginning of this,” Ralph said.Ahmed Qadeer, who serves as a member of the Board of Islamic Center of Naperville and secretary of the Naperville Interfaith Leaders Association, spoke passionately about the need for an emissions inventory immediately and how the Muslim community supports the efforts to preserve the earth’s resources.The council was split on the issue of including the emissions survey, mostly over the projected $40,000 price tag that goes along with hiring an outside consultant for the work.”I cannot spend $40,000 if I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do,” Councilman Grant Wehrli said.The 18-page environmental sustainability report, which outlines the different steps city departments now take to reduce waste and conserve resources, is something Councilman Kenn Miller said shows the city is already being proactive.The next step is determining details like costs and a timeline for the emissions inventory. Dan DiSanto, assistant to the city manager, said a request for proposals should be put together by next week.             

 Naperville Sun Letter to Editor - November 11, 2007

Congratulates city on emissions study

Gina Shugar - Naperville

Kudos to the mayor and the Naperville City Council for voting to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory in Naperville. This inventory will tell the council where we stand now in terms of emissions and suggest simple and money-saving ways to reduce emissions.  Congratulations to the group of concerned citizens, Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation (www.ncec.us), for educating the Council and pushing for the inventory.       

Naperville Sun Letter to Editor - November 14, 2007

Congratulates city on energy inventory

Craig Buckley, M.D.  - Naperville

A hearty congratulations to both the Naperville City Council and NCEC (Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation).  Tuesday evening Nov. 6th, the City Council voted to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and include environmental sustainability in the 2009 Strategic Plan Initiative. These are the first steps toward making Naperville a truly sustainable city; one that decreases its dependence on foreign oil, increases its use of alternative energy and develops citywide programs for energy efficiency.          

College of DuPage Courier Newspaper - November 9, 2007

Green efforts stymied by regulations

By HEIDI KOOS, Features Editor

More than 50 people met in SRC 2800 on Nov. 3 as part of a national campaign called “Step It Up” aimed to send a message of ecological commitment to state and federal governments. Participants viewed a short film on global warming, after which members of Campus Greens and the Sierra Club moderated an hour and a half long forum. “It’s wonderful that we individually decrease our carbon footprint, but it’s not enough if we don’t have strong laws from our government,” the lobby chair for the Sierra Club in Illinois, Linda Sullivan, said. Michael Fortner, state representative and physics professor at Northern Illinois University, was one of three panelists who answered audience questions. Fortner said that people will “bump into little laws all the time” that prevent them from  making green choices, such as subdivision “covenant laws” that prohibit putting solar panels on roofs. Such laws have also stopped the use of clotheslines in backyards, according to one participant. Fortner discussed a recent incident involving a man who wanted to convert his truck to running on bio-diesel fuel and was fined more than $2,000 by the State Department of Revenue for operating a refinery. Fortner also talked about his work with the FutureGen project, a proposed $1 billion coal power plant that will utilize a new method that fully sequesters all the exhaust a factory creates, and then redirects the carbon back into the ground where it will be absorbed into the rock. Developers of the plant include the US Department of Energy, American Electric Power and Peabody Energy. FutureGen has short listed Illinois and Texas as the final two possible locations of the plant. “This is a landmark type of design not just to build, but convert existing plants,” Fortner said. Also on the panel was Colleen Sarna, national Cool Cities campaign coordinator. The Cool Cities program asks city mayors to sign an agreement to reduce their city’s carbon dioxide pollution to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. 34 of Illinois’ more than 300 cities have begun the process of becoming a Cool City, including Chicago. Before mayors sign the agreement, an emissions inventory conducted by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives determines a city’s carbon dioxide budget by pinpointing where the most pollution is being created. Some cities determine the mass transit system as the main concern, and others find they have to develop more environmentally sustainable buildings. Naperville has been reticent to conduct an emissions inventory, and according to one participant, the delay was due to the $25,000 to $40,000 price tag attached. “They have the best schools. Their money goes to something, you know. I always viewed Naperville as this wondrous city. With all the money they have they’re the biggest cheapskates. They’re a disgrace to the state,” said Ryan Durkin, 22, after the forum. Stephanie Hastings, a Cool Cities volunteer, described Naperville’s city council as “methodical” and “fiscally minded” on Tuesday afternoon. “The strongest opinions opposing the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Act is one: Naperville is already doing enough and signing the act would be redundant. Second, they don’t want to sign something that asks them to meet obligatory goals – they’re not comfortable signing something they don’t know how much will cost,” Hastings said. The Naperville city council met Tuesday night and approved the emissions inventory. “We are all thrilled,” Hastings said.          

Naperville Sun Letter to the Editor - December 17, 2007

We must do better on the environment

Gina Shugar - Naperville

In the Dec. 10 Sun there was a misleading commentary that bashed environmentalism. The scientific facts speak for themselves. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a comprehensive report on global warming in 2007.  The IPCC concluded:

• Warming of the climate system is unequivocal
• Most warming since the mid-20th century is very likely (defined by IPCC as probability of more than 90 percent) due to the observed increase in human greenhouse gas emissions and;
• The probability that this is caused by natural climatic processes alone is less than 5 percent.

The IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. CO2 levels have varied throughout the past 650 millennia, but today’s levels are double that of any peak throughout the past 650 thousand years! In recent years, all major scientific bodies in the United States have issued similar statements. No scientific body of national or international standing is known to reject the basic findings. How much will temperatures rise? That’s up to us. The IPCC says between 1.4 degrees to 6.8 degrees Celcius in the year 2100. There is an ominous “tipping point,” after which our earth will no longer be able to heal itself.  Now that we know better, we must do better. Power plant and transportation are the largest human contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. Buying clean energy and clean cars is key. Naperville has a wind energy program where residents can purchase wind-powered electricity (see www.naperville.il.us). The most effective thing to do is tell our government representatives that we think the environment is important. A new Energy Bill is before congress (see www.senate.gov and search “HR 6″).  Finally the Naperville City Council has taken a step in the right direction by voting to do an emissions inventory (see www.ncec.us).

Letter - Naperville Township Democratic Organization

Naperville Township Democratic Organization

Tim Roach, Environmental Chair 

The City Council deserves praise for its recent “green” vote.  On November 6th, the Council agreed to integrate environmental planning into its FY 2009 strategic plan and to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory.  By approving both of these proposals, the Council demonstrated that the City of Naperville will continue its long term effort to reduce pollution and improve the environment for its residents.  This successful Council vote would not have been possible without the hard work of a grass-roots organization known as “Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation.”   Members of this local group, along with the many religious and civic organizations that support it, convinced the Council that channeling tax dollars into these environmental initiatives is a wise investment in the city’s future.  Air pollution and global climate change are daunting challenges that may seem impossible to solve.  Yet here in Naperville, as in communities across the country and around the world, concerned citizens are petitioning their elected leaders to take action.  The residents of the city owe a debt of gratitude to all who helped to make this possible. Thank you.   

Accent on Ashbury – December 2007

Calling all Ashbury Neighbors

In the wake of global warming and climate change becoming mainstream social issues, the city of Naperville agreed in November to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory thanks to a couple of our fellow Ashbury residents!  In May, Sarah Ralph contacted and organized a group of Naperville residents, now called ‘Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation’ (http://www.ncec.us/), who were all interested in making sure Naperville took action to reduce the city’s emissions.  After the city council rejected signing the US Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in June, Stephanie Hastings joined forces with Sarah and helped lead the push to educate and convince the city council to make global warming a focus and take immediate action. Sarah and Stephanie now share the NCEC leadership role and plan on continuing to reach out to the community to find fellow residents and organizations who share their convictions.  Feel free to contact either Sarah or Stephanie to learn how you or your organization can help and visit http://www.ncec.us/ to keep informed on the city’s progress towards sustainability.    

Sierra Club Lake and Prairie Newspaper - Jan 2008

Cool Cities Inspires: Campaign Motivating Club Members to Step Up and Volunteer

by Linda Sullivan   

 “When I spoke to the Naperville City Council, I told them that I was doing this for my children because I am worried about their future if we don’t stop global warming, and I meant it,” said Sarah Ralph, mother of boys ages four and two and, by the time this article is published, a new baby. Sarah and her friend Stephanie Hastings, also a young mother of two, lead Naperville’s Cool Cities campaign. Both had been Sierra Club members for years without ever becoming involved. But they say Cool Cities drew them in with the chance to act locally. The story is much the same across Illinois: Inactive Sierra Club members are finding their voices through Cool Cities. That’s true of Illinois’ Cool Cities Chair, Lonnie Morris, who said that two years ago she was sunk in “panic and despair over the lack of federal action on climate change.” Then she read about the amazing things that were being done by cities that signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. “When I read what a town as conservative as Salt Lake City had done to curb carbon emissions, I knew things were happening on a local level and I began to feel hopeful for the first time,” she said. When she heard about the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities initiative, Morris said, “I knew I could do more for the Sierra Club than write my dues check.”  She became the River Prairie Group’s Cool Cities Chair, then the Illinois Chapter’s Cool Cities chair. Together with Colleen Sarna, Sierra Club’s national Cool Cities campaign coordinator, she trained 30 Sierra Club members from  all over the state to organize their own towns to become Cool Cities. Cool Cities is the Sierra Club’s organizing initiative on behalf of the Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, first put forth by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Cities that sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement commit to reduce their community’s greenhouse gas emissions by seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. In Illinois, cities and towns as disparate as Champaign and Rockford and as geographically spread as Chicago and Carbondale have signed on. In all, 19 Illinois cities are Cool Cities. Many more have adopted other, less stringent programs like Clean Air Counts primarily because they have been approached by Sierra Club members to sign on as Cool Cities. Morris estimates that 20 towns in Illinois currently have Cool Cities campaigns under way. Morris, who sometimes spends 20 hours a week working on Cool Cities and global warming issues, lists among the benefits of her job mentoring local activists and “seeing talent blossom.” She cites Jim Babcock, an Elmhurst Cool Cities organizer, as a prime example. Jim Babcock laughs when he hears this. “I am not sure I measure up to Lonnie’s evaluation,” he said. But he concedes that he was an inactive Sierra Club member before he went on the Sierra Club website to read about global warming. “There was a button that said ‘click here to get involved.’ I clicked and Lonnie contacted me,” he said. Victory came in October 2007. The coalition put together by Babcock includes Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Elmhurst College, The League of Women Voters, the Elmhurst Garden Club, the American Association of University Women and the York Township High School Eco Club. “I had wondered if there was anyone besides me in conservative Elmhurst that cared about global warming,” Babcock said. “It turned out lots of people cared. The program sold itself!” Babcock credits Cool Cities’ success in Elmhurst to the Sierra Club’s materials and training which, he says, lay out a blueprint to create a broad coalition. “The mayor and City Council could see from the beginning that this was a broad grassroots movement. They had to get on board or be left behind.” Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole signed on to Cool Cites in January 2007, according to Shawnee Group Chair Barb McKas- son, after meeting with her group and hearing about Cool Cities at the National Conference of Mayors and Managers. McKasson said her main frustration has been getting Carbondale to do take action after signing on. A global warming committee led by Sierra Club but including churches and the LWV is still meeting and urging action. “It took the mayor from January to November to direct the city manager to do an energy audit,” McKasson said. In contrast to the smooth sailing in Elmhurst and Carbondale, the Naperville moms have fought for every concession. To build their team, Ralph and Hastings cold- called about 400 Sierra Club members in Naperville. Eventually about 20 activists came together. They got letters of support from Catholic, Methodist and Unitarian churches and a synagogue. The League of Women Voters, Naperville Democrats and various student groups participated. But in June, the City Council voted no. Undeterred, they lobbied the council member they thought most likely to change his mind and scaled back their request, asking only that Naperville vote to do an emissions inventory, the first and most costly step once a town becomes a Cool City, rather than commit to the entire program. In November 2007 the Naperville City Council voted 5-4 to begin a carbon emissions inventory. Hastings was elated with the partial victory. The Naperville group plans to keep working for a greener Naperville through the group they created, Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation. Hastings said the late nights after the boys were in bed and stomach aches caused by frustration are worth it. “I could not sit by and hope someone else was taking care of the earth while I raise my children,” she said. “I am a better mom for doing this.”     

(Photo caption 1:  Smiling NCEC members gather after the Naperville City Council voted to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. front row, from left: Jean McCollum, Sarah Ralph, Lonnie Morris and Stephanie Hastings. back row: Ahmad A. Qadeer, Joe Roach, bill dawe, Rev. Lynn Pries and John McCollum.)

(Photo caption 2: Stephanie Hastings (left) and Sarah Ralph discuss the Naperville vote with NCEC member Ahmed A. Qadeer.)