This report outlines key areas of opportunity for the city’s mayor to be a true environmental champion. Ranging from clean energy to transportation to urban conservation, IEC’s Mayoral Report lays out some relatively small and other loftier objectives that the mayor ought to tackle to make Chicago a truly sustainable city.

While the past few years have seen some considerable environmental wins, such as divesting city funds from fossil fuels and passing a budget with the largest one time investment in environment in city history, there’s of course work still to be done. 

Chicago is still without a permanent Department of Environment, for example, and despite the 2021 passage of the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), the city remains a ways from reducing their emissions, with electrifying buildings being the next major opportunity to cut down on citywide carbon emissions. And that’s just to name a few areas for improvement.