Recently, it was announced that Openlands would be transferring ownership of the Lakeshore Preserve to Lake County. Read more about this change in ownership here. Lake County will be planning for future improvements to the site, and is expecting to reopen by Labor Day.
Climate Change
Our planet is burning, literally. Fires in Alberta, Canada have been burning for weeks with more fires now in Quebec and Nova Scotia. These fires have affected air quality in much of the US, bringing record hazardous levels of pollution to the Eastern US and worsened air quality in Highland Park, too.
Climate change is causing higher temperatures, and more extreme weather across the globe. This is what scientists have long predicted would happen if we continued to release heat trapping gases into the atmosphere. Back in 1965, the American Petroleum Institute knew that the burning of fossil fuel would harm the environment:
“One of the most important predictions of the report is that carbon dioxide added to the earth’s atmosphere by burning of coal, oil, and natural gas at such a rate that by the year 2000 the heat balance will be so modified as possibly to cause marked changes in climate beyond local or even national efforts…” Frank Ikard, President, American Petroleum Institute (1965) As early as the 1970’s, scientists at Exxon Mobil predicted global temperature rise with shocking accuracy. Given the data, these companies could have sounded the alarm and changed their business models to transition to cleaner sources of energy. Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in 2021, “Yeah, we knew. Everybody knew… And somehow, we all ignored it.”
Yet they did not simply ignore it. According to an investigation by the Columbia University Journalism School:
“As many of the world’s major oil companies — including Exxon, Mobil and Shell — joined a multimillion-dollar industry effort to stave off new regulations to address climate change, they were quietly safeguarding billion-dollar infrastructure projects from rising sea levels, warming temperatures and increasing storm severity.
From the North Sea to the Canadian Arctic, the companies were raising the decks of offshore platforms, protecting pipelines from increasing coastal erosion, and designing helipads, pipelines and roads in a warming and buckling Arctic.”
In 1988, NASA Scientist James Hansen testified to Congress about climate change. Had we taken action then, we could have transitioned gradually away from fossil fuels, reducing air pollution at the same time. According to a 2021 Natural Resources Defense Fund report, “The staggering, often-overlooked financial costs to our health from fossil-fuel generated air pollution and climate change surpass $820 billion in health costs each year…”
I recently had the opportunity to hear Bill McKibben speak on climate change. While he was optimistic, he noted that it was not us, but physics that determines the time frame for action. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is clear about the need for swift action: “Deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a discernible slowdown in global warming within around two decades…” Scientists agree that we must cut our greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030. That is just six and a half years from now.
As I write this, my electric car is charging with energy from solar panels. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last year, provides incentives to increase the energy efficiency of your home and to install renewable energy. I hope you will take action to reduce climate change, at home and in the broader world.
Building Electrification Webinar on June 13 at 7 pm
How to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint:
Buildings are one of the top three sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, along with electricity generation and transportation. Many buildings leak heated and cooled air and rely on appliances fueled by methane gas.
Electrification eliminates gas powered appliances, replacing them with energy efficient electric appliances, which can be run off of renewable energy. Join this webinar on June 13 at 7 pm to learn more about electrification options, financial incentives for increasing energy efficiency, switching to electric appliances, and generating your own renewable electricity.
Improving Communications
As more people are communicating electronically, both privately and through social media, the absence of facial expressions and vocal intonation can cause misunderstandings. Furthermore, complaints over social media to people who are not tasked with the solution can quickly escalate, as those whose job it is to respond are not informed of the problem in a timely manner or perhaps ever.
If you have a question, concern or complaint about a City service or bill, please check the City website first. Many questions are answered there, and you may save yourself time. You can contact the City directly at (847) 432-0800. As your Councilmember, I am always happy to help residents solve city-related problems or answer your questions and concerns – just email me and I will connect you to the right staff person to address your issue.
Community Vibrancy
Community vibrancy is one of the core priorities of the City of Highland Park. People often ask how we can make sure that we have thriving businesses in our downtown, and why some storefronts are empty. Earlier this spring, I had the opportunity to travel to Spain. The streets were filled with people — dancing, shopping, dining, walking and biking. On our first day, we encountered groups of people dancing in parks and plazas in four separate locations. Bike lanes were incorporated into larger streets, while the older and narrower streets were filled with pedestrians. Shops and restaurants were thriving. We felt safe walking around in the evening, as shops were open and streets were vibrant and full of people strolling, dining and shopping.
How can we learn from what is working elsewhere to make our community more vibrant? If e-commerce has destroyed retail in the United States, why is retail doing so well in other countries? Walkability has been shown to benefit health, community and the economy. The Superblock is a concept from Barcelona that prioritizes people over cars. The Woonerf is a shared street concept that originated in the Netherlands. You can see woonerfs in action in the western suburbs and Chicago’s Argyle Street. These creative concepts have revitalized neighborhoods by bringing people to the area who patronize local businesses.
While we are not proposing a Superblock or a Woonerf in Highland Park (yet), we have begun the process of updating our vintage 1986 streetscape. You may have noticed the new trash and recycling bins and bike racks around the downtown area. The City has also hired a consultant to recommend updates to Second Street, and to provide a more permanent concept for The Lot, our new outdoor event space. I look forward to reviewing the recommendations once they are presented to City Council, and am always open to your input for what you’d like to see in downtown Highland Park.
Spring Clean Up
Spring trash pick ups continue for two more weeks in Highland Park. There are many items that end up in the landfill, but could have been recycled or donated instead. Click here for ideas on how to better dispose of items that you may not need anymore. For those whose primary trash pick up is on Thursdays or Fridays, the next two Saturdays are your spring clean up dates. Remember, you don’t need to save up for spring clean up. You may put one large item out with your trash on your regular trash day anytime during the year.
City Council Endorsements
There is an election in Highland Park on April 4, with early voting beginning at the Highland Park Public Library on March 20. More information on voting is here. The ballot will have candidates for Mayor, City Council, School Boards and Park District Board. For City Council, I am endorsing Tony Blumberg and Adam Stolberg for re-election, and Kelly Nichols for election.
Kelly Nichols is Chair of the City’s Sustainability Advisory Group, on which she has served for 8 years; Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Respiratory Health Association; and co-founder and co-owner of Evenmade, a small business teaching home improvement skills to those not generally included in these spaces. Kelly has twin 5th graders in the dual language program at Oak Terrace. As she says, “I am invested in making the community the best I can for all of the residents in Highland Park. I want Highland Park to be a vibrant, resilient, comfortable place where people love to live — a place where the kids who grow up here want to move back as adults and raise their own families.” Kelly’s intelligence, policy expertise, creativity, environmental knowledge, and strong decision making skills would be great assets to the Council. As the mother of school aged-children, and a resident of the Highlands neighborhood, Kelly represents a demographic that is currently unrepresented on City Council.
Tony Blumberg and Adam Stolberg have a strong record of accomplishments and make important contributions to City Council.
As the only practicing attorney on City Council, Tony Blumberg contributes his expertise on policy and legal issues. He is accessible to residents, and helps resolve issues that they are having with the City — in fact, that is how I first met Tony. His experience and leadership will provide continuity and stability as we address the aftermath of the parade shooting, and his calm demeanor will help us to maintain civility, openness and inclusion through this process.
Adam Stolberg is the owner of a property management firm, and has experience in real estate. As a Councilmember, he listens to residents, collaborates with colleagues, and works to find policy solutions that enhance Highland Park. He is committed to revitalizing our business community, maintaining and improving our infrastructure, incorporating sustainability into our codes, and supporting affordable housing.
Please join me in voting for Kelly, Tony and Adam for City Council.
Mayor Nancy Rotering is running for re-election and has my full support. Her leadership in the aftermath of the shooting has been remarkable. The candidates for the School and Park District seats are also running unopposed.
Climate Action
In early February, I was honored to participate in a panel discussion entitled “Planning for Climate Action at the Local Level” organized by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). Other panelists were Jared Patton of CMAP, Edith Makra of Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Deb Kutska of Cook County. While large urban areas get most of the attention when it comes to climate action, Northeastern Illinois’ 7 counties and 284 municipalities can have a big impact if we all work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You can watch the webinar here.
If you are ready to take action, here are links to 2 resources that can help:
- Review the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region to learn how your community can start.
- Use the data in your local emissions summary to prioritize where you can make the biggest difference.
Driving Electric
The last week of September is National Drive Electric Week, which is a good opportunity to learn about electric cars. I have had the opportunity to borrow an electric car over the past 2 years, and many people have asked me about the experience. Electric cars are fun to drive. They are quiet, and acceleration is smooth and fast. It’s easy to get used to plugging in at night instead of stopping at gas stations, and no oil changes or engine maintenance are required with an electric vehicle (EV). I do not have a charger at home, and have had no trouble simply plugging the car into a standard outlet to keep it charged. If I need to charge quicker, there are plenty of public chargers in the area. For road trips, there are fast chargers located along highway corridors to make it convenient to stop for a charge. Often, the time to charge is just enough to get a bite to eat, stretch your legs, or take a bathroom break. During the summer of 2020, I drove an EV from Highland Park to Colorado. The cost of the charging stops was exactly half the cost of gas for the same trip – and that was when gas prices were lower than they are now. If you want a more detailed description of the trip, I’ve posted it here. Read this NY Times article about an EV road trip to a remote area in Quebec and this article about a cross country EV road trip. When you buy your next car, make it electric!
EV Road Trip
Driving from Illinois to Colorado in an electric car, Summer 2020
We decided to drive 1,300 miles, across the plains and through the mountains, in the midst of a global pandemic in an electric vehicle. My car, being 12 years old, was deemed unsafe for such a long trip. With permission from my parents, I took their car instead, a Tesla model 3.
Packing the car full of snacks, filling our insulated water bottles, and charging the battery fully, we were ready to head out early in the morning. In addition to our luggage, we packed a picnic blanket, plenty of hand sanitizer, paper towels and a spray bottle of alcohol, and rubber gloves. The car has an impressive amount of storage space in both the front (where an engine would be) and the back.
Our first charging stop was in Davenport, Iowa in the parking lot of the Hy Vee supermarket. Iowa has invested in their electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and it was no problem to find charging stations along I-80.
We were able to route the trip through Tesla Superchargers, which decreased our total charging time. Still, charging stops added approximately 4 hours to our 20 hour one way drive. Interestingly, it takes 20-30 minutes to charge the battery to approximately 80%. After that, charging slows down significantly in order to avoid overheating the battery. The mapping feature on the car will tell you where and how long to charge, although we kept an eye on the battery as we were driving since both weather and speed can impact range. Driving across Iowa and Nebraska in the sun on a hot day, the air conditioner ate through our battery faster than we would have hoped. It would have been worth purchasing a cover for the sunroof to stay cooler.
Stop #2 was in Altoona, Iowa at the Kum and Go gas station. It was a nice day, so we ate the food we had brought for lunch outside the car, adjacent to a cornfield. We continued on to Council Bluffs, Iowa where the charging stations were in a strip mall parking lot. Leaving the car charging, we walked to a nearby restaurant to get food to go for dinner. We passed an impressive number of wind turbines through Iowa. You get a sense of the scale of these turbines when you see the trucks carrying the blades and towers on the road.
During this stretch, my son came up with the motto “Go slow to go fast.” The faster we drove, the more we had to stop to charge the car. When we kept our speed under 70 mph, we were able to go further on a charge. Lesson learned.
In Grand Island, Nebraska, we ate our carry out dinner by the car. This charging station was at a truck stop where the air was filled with the exhaust of idling diesel trucks. A natural area across a divided highway looked like it would have been a nice picnic spot, but we couldn’t safely walk there, so stayed by the car. Pushing on to Ogallala, Nebraska, we stopped to charge before heading to the hotel. This charge took an hour, as we wanted to start the next day with a full charge. Had there been a hotel with a charger in the parking lot in the area, we would have stayed there and left the car to charge overnight.
Setting off early after a good night’s sleep, we made it over the border to Brush, Colorado before stopping to charge. This charging station was in the parking lot of a gas station again, so there was nowhere to get food or walk while the car was charging. None of the charging stations we used were under cover. On the way east, we used this charging station in a severe rain/hail storm, which was not pleasant.
Somehow we missed a charger outside of Denver, so we were nervous about making it to Poncha Springs for our next charge. We turned off the A/C to save battery, and I looked at the map for level 2 chargers on the route. Unfortunately, without much internet reception, it was difficult. My son gets an A+ for his efficient driving in this stretch, gaining 30 miles by coasting down the hills. In the future, I’d print out a map of charging stations on portions of the route where we might need a boost and may not have cell reception. At Poncha Springs, we got Thai Food and used the picnic blanket to have a birthday lunch by a river across from the charging station. We brought our own utensils, which was helpful. Nervous about the distance and elevation gain in the next stretch, we spent extra time and charged the battery fully here. There were no super chargers after this stop.
The last stretch of the trip went smoothly, and we arrived at our destination with battery to spare. While some charging stations are free to use, faster chargers do have an associated cost. Even so, charging along the route was half the cost of gas for the same trip — and gas prices were lower than they are now. We plugged the car in to a regular outlet in the garage at our destination, where it took several days to fully charge for the trip home.
EV Road Trip Lessons Learned:
- Keep to a reasonable speed.
- Watch your battery if you are driving fast and using a/c or heat.
- Be prepared for weather – consider a cover if you have a car with a sunroof and are driving on a sunny day. Bring a raincoat or poncho just in case. The charging stations are often in the open.
- Be self sufficient – many charging stations are not near amenities. Bring a picnic blanket, utensils and plenty of water so you can eat while charging. Bring food or pick stops in advance that have food available.
- Charging slows down as the battery fills so plan to stop more frequently rather than filling up. This is also better for battery life.
- Map out your route in advance, and print or download a map of charging stations in case you don’t have cell reception.
- Download apps for the charging station networks along your route and set up accounts before you leave home. Be sure you have appropriate adapters in the car.
- Stay at a hotel with a charger so that you can charge overnight, if possible.
- Relax and enjoy the ride!