2020 Accomplishments
While 2020 was fraught with a number of challenges in our efforts to protect water, heal land, and inspire change, there were amazing bright spots. This is just a taste of some of the progress we have made in safeguarding Illinois’ environment.
Protect Water
Following 2019’s win with the Coal Ash Pollution Prevention Act, our energy team worked hard to ensure the rules that regulate coal ash are as strong and protective as possible. The rulemaking process continued despite the COVID-19 crisis with virtual hearings in August and September, 2020. Scores of folks signed our petition, and over a hundred people spoke at the online hearing.
We joined partners in several lawsuits challenging the harmful practices of several federal agencies. We worked together against the Trump administration’s EPA, the Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure better protection for wetlands and headwater streams, Lake Sturgeon, and the Mississippi River.
Our Clean Water Act lawsuit against Dynegy for illegal discharges on the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River made progress in 2020 after some initial setbacks. The lawsuit received national attention as one of the first applications of an important US Supreme Court decision on a similar Clean Water Act case in Maui. PRN fought another attempt by Dynegy to have the case dismissed, and we’ll continue fighting to protect the Middle Fork, Illinois’ only National Scenic River.
The Illinois State Water Plan is being updated for the first time in 40 years. The plan provides guidance on how the state manages water resources, covering issues from water quality and climate change to recreation and equity of access. This is a tremendous opportunity for Illinois to create a bold, inclusive vision for Illinois’ water resources, and PRN has several staff working with state agency personnel to ensure that the plan protects public health and the environment.
Heal Land
In August 2020, PRN, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Xerces Society published a report titled Drifting Toward Disaster: How Dicamba Herbicides are Harming Cultivated and Wild Landscapes. “In Illinois we’ve seen firsthand the effect that herbicide drift has on public and private lands, wildlife habitat, and farms that grow sensitive crops,” said Kim Erndt-Pitcher, PRN Habitat and Agriculture Programs Specialist. “The EPA seems more concerned with the needs of industry and manufacturers than those of farmers and the environment.”
We continue to work with our partners in Regenerate IL, a statewide network with a mission to cultivate an equitable food system. Together we are connecting all groups and individuals working to create a food and farming system for Illinois that is just, fair, and based on regenerative agriculture.
Our work with farmers is also drawing connections to the ways they are fighting climate change and benefiting from renewable energy. With partners we featured a small farm’s solar array on a video tour and co-hosted a webinar on climate change and its impact on southern Illinois farming.
Inspire Change
Before the COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, PRN helped plan two major events in Springfield. With the help of longtime PRN member Chris Main and her group of volunteers, we gathered signatures on an important petition in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). In total, Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition groups gathered more than 23,000 signatures for CEJA, which we helped deliver to the Governor in January.
In early March 2020, over 700 advocates from across the state descended on the Capitol to push for CEJA passage. Due to COVID, we couldn’t hold another in-person lobby day, but in November, over 1,000 people participated in a Virtual Lobby Day for CEJA! Many took part in a week of action that culminated with legislator meetings over Zoom and then a virtual rally.
During the summer, PRN worked with partners to develop policies that advance racial and socioeconomic justice, helping shape workforce and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) contractor development programs, and a policy that increases funding for Illinois’ low income solar program. We continue to advocate for a comprehensive energy bill that centers on equity and brings all Illinoisans into a clean energy future.
We are helping the IDEA Farm Network (IFN) grow and improve. The Network now has over 500 members, up from 425 last year. During the pandemic, the IFN has held virtual field days and tailgate conversations to help farmers connect with each other when they would otherwise meet in person, walk fields, and share their stories of regenerative farming together. Despite COVID-19, the group continues to share and grow.
Read More
The 2020 Annual Report is here! More on our accomplishments can be read in our Fall/Winter 2020 Newsletter.
Accomplishments from Previous Years
2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2018 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2017 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2016 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2015 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2014 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2013 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2012 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2011 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2010 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2009 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2007 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2006 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2005 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2004 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2003 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2002 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2000 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
