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NEWS & UPDATES
Why Does My Street Flood?
Every spring and summer, Chicago basements flood like clockwork, but this isn’t just bad luck with the weather. It is the direct collision of a 1930s sewer network, a rapidly shifting climate, and decades of systemic urban disinvestment. Chicago’s Deep Tunnel project can’t save us alone, we need to embrace water policy and nature-based climate resilience.
Grayslake data center opponents call for wetlands protection: ‘Wetlands are incredibly important’
Opponents of the Grayslake T5 data center are focusing on almost 16 acres of wetlands on the site that developers have applied to fill in, seeing it as a potential stopping point for a project that has sparked increasing resistance.
Rockford CEJA Ecosystem Training Next Generation of Clean Energy Workers & Investing in Local Community
Rockford, Illinois – Today, The Workforce Connection, Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois (Goodwill), Think Big! Corporation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Illinois
Data Center Policy Debate in Illinois Spans Environmental, Economic Goals
Andrew Montequin for WTTW: Data centers are a hot topic in Illinois and around the country. Alongside more construction comes more public scrutiny — of
2025 Annual Report
Explore our IEC and IECEF Annual Report to learn more about the state of our organizations and the progress we made in 2025.
Fighting for a Clean Community through a Toxic Tour & Fireside Chat
For Metro-East residents, environmental justice is a daily fight against chronic flooding, sewage backups, and toxic air.
SCORECARD & NEWSLETTERS
Legislative Scorecard
See how your state legislators voted on bills affecting the environment.
Newsletters
Read the most recent IEC Newsletter and view our archive going all the way back to the 1970s.
RESEARCH & REPORTS
Why are more elected officials calling for restrictions on data centers?
On Aug. 11, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order calling for a pause on data center construction and expansion in the city of Chicago.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signs data center order and pushes City Council for moratorium
Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Tuesday directing city departments to intensify scrutiny of new data centers in Chicago — a politically potent move that doesn’t unilaterally impose new limits on the fast-growing industry, but could slow its growth.
Community Outreach Internship
The Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) is looking for a Community Outreach Intern to join our amazing team.
Illinois Environmental Council gives over half of Illinois legislators a perfect score on environmentally conscious votes this year
Every year, the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) issues a voting scorecard that grades members of the Illinois General Assembly on how they voted for bills affecting the environment.
WCPT 820 Interview: Dany Robles
Richard Chew is joined by Dany Robles, senior legislative director at the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC); he talks about IEC’s 2026 Legislative Environmental Scorecard.
As study shows pesticides drifting onto Illinois schools and parks, residents push for better tracking
Commercial pesticides are being detected in public spaces like schools and parks, according to recently released research by Prairie Rivers Network, an Illinois-based nonprofit that advocates for water health. In addition, environmental advocates say Illinois doesn’t have an established method to track agricultural pesticide drift and lacks the regulations to prevent exposure like what occurred in Morton.