All posts by Rachel

Video: Reducing Emissions from Buildings in Chicago

Chicago, climate,

Since about 70% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Chicago come from our buildings, I’ve been leading a small team of Climate Reality Project volunteers with the goal of helping bring those building emissions down over time. That will take lots of work, but thankfully, we’ve got many wonderful coalition partners at the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (and the clean buildings working group in particular)!

Last week, my teammates and I gave a presentation to the general membership of Climate Reality’s Chicago Metro Chapter about what building decarbonization is, why it is so important, what our team has accomplished over the last year, and the projects we’ve currently got in the pipeline. Consider taking a look at that presentation, and let me know if you want to get involved or form some sort of partnership with our team!

(The main presentation starts about 10 minutes in – after some intro material from our chapter chair.)

Chicago Higher Education Buildings Need to Decarbonize

Chicago, climate,

Recently, my team over at the Climate Reality Project’s Chicago Metro Chapter released a report that draws connections between existing citywide energy benchmarking policies and climate goals, energy usage and emissions on college and university campuses, and strategies for working toward emission reductions. 

Check out the report “Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Chicago Campuses” or just get the highlights through the coverage by Illinois PIRG and The Columbia Chronicle.

Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Chicago Campus Buildings: A Report

Chicago, climate, justice, , ,

With about 70% of climate-destabilizing greenhouse gas emissions in Chicago coming from buildings, it is important to know which ones are among the highest emitters, so that we can make the changes necessary to meet the goals in Chicago’s Climate Action Plan. 

As I learned while working with my team at the Climate Reality Project’s Chicago Metro Chapter, university buildings are among Chicago’s top emitters of climate-warming gasses per square foot. Seven university buildings ranked among the top ten most emissions intensive buildings in the city in 2021!

We recently released a report, Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Chicago Campuses, which relies on data from electrifychicago.net. That website allows users to get specific, publicly available energy usage and emissions information for individual large buildings that owners are required to report to the city under the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance. The website also helps users rank and group buildings to allow for better understanding of the data.

Using that excellent resource as a starting place, we identified a number of college and university campus buildings that are making outsize contributions to the climate crisis, as well as multiple institutions of higher education that have failed to comply with the benchmarking ordinance in recent years. We also uncovered a systemic failure on the city’s part to enforce the ordinance – foregoing as much as $30 million in potential fines.

We issued the report to spur universities to decarbonize their buildings by improving energy efficiency and by moving away from fossil fuels like methane gas. The report also highlights actions at the state and city level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provides strategies for students and others concerned about climate change to work toward emission reductions.

The Climate Reality Project’s Chicago Metro Chapter is an all-volunteer group of Chicago area activists working to catalyze local solutions to the climate crisis since 2017.

Moral Courage, Environmental Style

climate, philosophy, , ,

Around the country, professors are hard at work creating and updating syllabi for fall, which can be both exciting and exhausting. Thankfully, Philosophers for Sustainability is here to help!

They’ve just posted a new section on their website, called Teaching Modules, with resources that can easily be slotted into existing courses, used to create new courses, or shared and discussed in philosophy clubs.

The first module is called “Moral Courage, Environmental Style,” and it contains a bunch of materials to accompany an article I published (gulp, 10 years ago) called “Courage as an Environmental Virtue.” We’re talking: a 15-minute summary video made by yours truly, a set of slides, an hour-long video conversation between myself and Dr. Nora Mills Boyd, video transcripts, discussion questions, activity prompts, and a list of related resources.

These free materials may be particularly useful in courses that discuss virtue ethics, activism, sex & gender norms, courage in military contexts, and climate change.

I had a lot of fun working with both Nora and Sadie Warren on this project and I’m hoping that this module will be the first of many shared there, so if you have an idea or a request for other materials of this general sort, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Nora at nboyd@siena.edu.

Book recommendation: When Doing the Right Thing Is Impossible, by Lisa Tessman

book recommendations, philosophy

I’ve been meaning to read Lisa Tessman’s When Doing the Right Thing Is Impossible for some time – and I’m very glad I finally got around to it!

This book is both accessible for a general audience and dense with food for thought. When we see people around us, in the news, and maybe ourselves in positions where some sort of moral failure seems guaranteed, that can really wear on us. But I think it feels better to openly acknowledge that reality, as Tessman does, than to try to fool ourselves about the possibility of always keeping our hands clean.

I’ll admit that I went into the book already very sympathetic with the conclusion that, indeed, sometimes one is going to violate a moral duty no matter what one choose to do, but I wouldn’t have been able to articulate why nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as Tessman has. I’m less sure where I stand on Tessman’s constructivism, but that is something to continue pondering for the future (for me).

If lots more people would read this book and take some of the central ideas on board, I think that maybe we could be both more forgiving of ourselves and each other, and also more motivated to change social structures for the better – so that the moral dilemmas she discusses wouldn’t arise quite so often in the first place!

To improve our electric grid, transportation system, and buildings, I support the ICJC platform.

Chicago, climate, justice, , ,

This week, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition announced a comprehensive legislative platform to boldly and rapidly accelerate the state’s climate, equity, and clean energy goals.

The platform is a set of bills (the Clean and Reliable Grid Act, the Clean and Equitable Transportation Act, and the Clean and Healthy Buildings Act) that will lower greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs, and improve health and safety in our communities. Together, these bills would be transformative in helping us work toward climate stability, financial security, fairness across communities, and health statewide.

If you live in Illinois, I invite you to join me in supporting the ICJC platform.

Ror folks who don’t live here, with your help, the ICJC’s work can serve as a model for related efforts elsewhere!

Upcoming Food, Family, and Justice Conference

food, justice, philosophy, ,

I’m excited to be presenting “Unjust Social Structures and Plant-Based Caregiving for Kids” with my co-author, Jeremy Fisher, at the upcoming “Food, Family, and Justice” conference June 21-23, 2024.

Even more exciting for me, though, are the amazing presenters from around the world who are slated to share about a whole bunch of fascinating, important, related topics! I’ve got my eye on multiple sessions by folks whose work I’ve read and enjoyed, but who I’ve never had the good fortune to meet before.

This conference will be a hybrid of remote and in-person presentations at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy. My heartfelt gratitude to the organizers and sponsor (the Society for Applied Philosophy) for pursuing the hybrid format, which makes participation possible for those of us who are minimizing travel for environmental, health, family, financial, or other reasons!

DePaul student Charlie LaBerge’s “Future of Chicago Climate Change” Podcast

Chicago, climate,

Recently, Charlie LaBerge, a student at DePaul University taking a course in climate change communications, interviewed a couple of my fellow Climate Reality Project volunteers and me about our chapter’s work – our past, present, and future efforts to respond to the climate crisis locally here in Chicago.

I really got a kick out of the experience – working with students is something that I miss, and it was a great opportunity to reflect on our collective efforts!

Charlie used that interview, along with some other materials, to create an impressive podcast for his class project, and was generous enough to share it publicly, so you can listen here to check it out.

Book recommendation: Solidarity, by Leah Hunt-Hendrix & Astra Taylor

book recommendations, justice,

I can’t tell you how many times, over how many years, I’ve said, “Why don’t people write/talk/study about solidarity more? I want to read a book about solidarity! When is someone going to write a good, detailed book focused on solidarity?”

Well, the universe (or more specifically, Astra Taylor & Leah Hunt-Hendrix) listened and granted my wish!

Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea is a great place to look for a more-than-introduction to the important concept of solidarity. Whether you are an activist, a historian, a philosopher, or just an engaged member of a community (large or small), this book almost assuredly has something that you didn’t already know about and that is worth thinking about some more. I know that I’m going to be returning to it again and again!

Building Decarbonization on Chicago Campuses

Chicago, climate,

This past week, as a team leader for the Chicago Metro Chapter of the Climate Reality Project, I hosted a Zoom event about building decarbonization for various student groups around the city. Since about 70% of greenhouse gas emissions in the city come from our buildings, we simply must reduce emissions from buildings in order to meet our climate commitments!

It was great to be able to share what my team has been learning with folks from multiple universities, and to help energize and support the students’ own campaigns for greater on-campus sustainability. We’re in the beginning phases of some collaborative efforts, and here’s hoping for many fruitful interactions to come!

If you want to watch the presentation, you can find it on our chapter’s YouTube channel.