CNT Update, March 6, 2009
ACTION: Support the “Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act”!
Green infrastructure has arrived on the national agenda, with funding to back it up. The federal stimulus act explicitly places a clear priority, and 20 percent of water infrastructure funding, onto green roofs, rain gardens, pocket wetlands, native vegetation, sustainable streets and parking lots, and other landscape-based water-conserving measures.
CNT recently advised President Obama’s Transition Team on the value of green infrastructure in federal water, housing, energy… Read More
RECAP: Transportation Freedom Day
On March 5, Chicago residents celebrated Transportation Freedom Day, the date a typical area household has earned enough to cover its transportation costs for the year. To mark the occasion, CNT joined Illinois Public Interest Research Group (ILPIRG), Active Transportation Alliance, and Midwest High Speed Rail Association in calling upon the Governor Quinn and Mayor Daley to prioritize investment in transit. At a press conference at Union Station, CNT Research Director Linda Young stated “that families living in transit-rich neighborhoods can save up to $2,500 a year versus those living in dispersed communities with no access to transit.”
New findings released by ILPIRG show that a typical Chicago family shells out the equivalent of two months of their annual salary to pay for transportation costs… Read More
RESOURCE: 2009 Briefing Book Outlines Illinois Environmental Policy
On March 3, CNT staff took part in a press conference in Springfield, IL to help outline the policy agenda for the new briefing book released by the Illinois Environmental Council. Priorities for a Healthful Illinois: 2009 Illinois Environmental Briefing Book offers specific policies and legislative action for these top environmental priorities: global warming and energy, open space and natural areas, transportation, environmental health and clean water.
Events
Thursday, March 26: “What Would Jane Say?”
Author and CNT Staff, Jan Metzger: Readings from her book, discussion and reception
