Saturday Earth Day Events

Earth Day is day to celebrate every person’s power to do something to protect our planet.  Sierra Club volunteers across Illinois will be busy Saturday with a variety of cleanups, restoration projects, and other service projects to improve Illinois’ environment.  All members and the public are invited to join in as we get to work making Illinois cleaner and greener.

Here are Saturday’s events – hope to see you there!

Montrose Beach Sweep (Chicago)

Sat, April 21 9:00AM to 11:00AM

Celebrate Earth Day with Sierra Chicago Group by giving beautiful Montrose Beach a spring cleaning. A Nature Tour for beginning birders and other nature lovers will begin at 7:00 a.m. at the Montrose Beach House. Bring binoculars if you have them and dress for the weather. The Beach Sweep will run from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. and gloves, trash and recycling bags and other supplies will be provided. Meet at Montrose Beach House and be sure to dress for the weather.

Earth Day Celebration At Deer Grove Forest Preserve (Palatine)

Saturday, April 21 9:30AM to 2:30PM

LOCATION:  Deer Grove Forest Preserve, Palatine.  Entrance is on North side of Dundee Road between Quentin and Hicks Roads – Picnic Spot, Grove #2.  Sierra Club volunteers and partners work to restore natural habitat to Cook County’s Forest Preserves at Deer Grove.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will speak at 1:00PM

For more info:  http://illinois.sierraclub.org/nwcook/events.html

OUR FOX RIVER EVENTS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO HIGH WATER.   FOR RESCHEDULING INFO, CHECK: http://illinois.sierraclub.org/vof/

Green Block Party at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Saturday, April 20 sponsored by SIUE’s EcoHouse and Student Organization for Sustainability to kick off Earth Week. Farmers/craft market and vendor booths (food, crafts, clothes, jewelry, flowers and art). Hours are 1 to 3 p.m. in the EcoHouse parking lot, next to SIUE Gardens building in Cougar Village. Free and open to the public. Volunteers needed for Sierra Club booth. Sign up for a shift at christine.favilla@sierraclub.org.

For more information about these events, and others throughout the year, see our events page.

Happy Earth Day!

Don’t Frack With Illinois!

That’s the message a growing coalition of organizations and concerned citizens is sending to industry and decision-makers regarding the proposal to open Illinois to high-volume hydraulic fracturing–or fracking.

Gas leasing speculation has been quite a spectacle in Illinois, especially in the southeastern counties where shale gas development is thought to be the most promising. We learned early on that the state has virtually no regulations in place to protect the public and the environment from the hazards of fracking. Seeing all to0 clearly the myriad of damages to people, communities and the environment that shale gas development has caused in other states a coalition of environmental organizations came together to address the issue head on.

For nearly a year, Sierra Club and other organizations have established a list of measures that are necessary for the protection of people and places in Illinois. They include:

• Chemical disclosure–before fracking–of exactly what chemicals are being used in the frack.
• Baseline groundwater testing before the frack and following monitoring afterwards.
• Water withdrawal plans.
• An adequate public notice and appeal process for frack well permits.
• Adequate setbacks from water supplies, including water wells, streams, ponds and lakes.
• Prohibition on the use of toxic chemicals such as BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene).
• Prohibition of storing wastewater in open pits.
• Treating  fracking waste as hazardous waste.
• Ending clean air act exemptions for fracking sites.

Until industry is willing to accept reasonable regulations that protect the environment and the people who depend upon it for their lives and livelihoods, no permits should be issued for high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Therefore, we continue to support a moratorium on fracking until Illinois has developed robust and comprehensive regulations that protect people and places from an activity that has been so harmful in other parts of the country.

Please ask your state legislators for his or her support by co-sponsoring Senate Bill 3280 with a moratorium on fracking until robust regulations have been developed.

And, please support this important campaign by taking part in the Don’t Frack With Illinois event—a virtual fundraising event sponsored by the Shawnee Group Sierra Club. Win a handcrafted acoustic guitar generously donated by Whipple Creek Guitars in Pomona, Illinois. Visit the event website to buy tickets and your chance to WIN!!

High-volume Hydraulic Fracturing Background Information

Industry is proposing to use high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to reach oil and/or natural gas in the New Albany Shale. After drilling into the shale, which is located between 4,000 to 5,000 feet down, the well bore is then drilled horizontally for one to two miles. Following the drilling the well is then “completed” or “fracked.” Fracking is process in which water, sand and toxic chemicals (fracking fluid) are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Each well uses between 2 to 8 million gallons of fresh water taken from our lakes and aquifers. Since one well is often fracked up to 18 times and there could be one well for every forty acres of land within the New Albany Shale, this amounts to an enormous quantity of fresh water permanently taken out of the system.

Additionally, an estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid. Industry is proposing to store this toxic brew in open evaporation pits until it can be hauled away in tanker trucks to deep injection wells. Spills and leaks throughout this process are inevitable, putting wells, farm ponds, streams, lakes, and aquifers and the people, pets, livestock and wildlife that use them at great risk.

In many areas, after a well has been fracked, people’s well water has become contaminated by chemicals (some even radioactive) that migrate into aquifers through natural fissures and/or possibly through abandoned wells.

Air pollution is also a big problem. Volatile organic compounds from wastewater flowback pits and airborne chemical releases from the equipment involved in the fracking process all add up to a high level of air pollution in many areas.

A Night Under the Stars: Ravinia 2012

The time has come for our annual fundraiser at Ravinia!

Come and join the Sierra Club for a summer evening under the stars at the Ravinia Festival as we enjoy the innovative sounds of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing, “Brahms Bonanza.”

This year, we are proud to honor retiring State Representative Karen May for over a decade of hard work fighting for our environment in Springfield. Karen has been one of our tireless champions in Springfield who has fought for wetlands protection, clean energy initiatives and green healthy schools. We will truly miss her leadership and voice in Springfield. We plan to work hard to make sure we find another champion that can carry the flag for our environment daily. Come out and thank Karen for her great efforts in protecting our environment and the health of Illinoisans.

Tickets are $75 per person; $250 to be a Host (includes 4 tickets). All tickets can be purchased at http://tinyurl.com/sierraclubilravinia

Dinner drinks, chairs and tables will be provided. The event is rain or shine! We will be under the stars, not under a tent, so please prepare for the weather!All proceeds will benefit the Illinois Chapter PAC and will be used to help elect pro-environment champions and ensure that Illinois has a safer, cleaner future. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Event Details

Friday, July 13, 2012                                                                                                           200 Ravinia Park Road – Highland Park                                                                6:00pm- Food, Drinks and Welcome/ Dinner Served by He’s Kitchen Catering    8:00pm- Brahm’s Bonanza                                                                                   Featuring: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra

*Because 100% of your contribution will be used to help elect pro-environment candidates, contributions are not tax-deductible. A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is available for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois.

Chicagoans Urge Mayor Emanuel To Protect Public Health

Rev. Thomas R. Gaulke, Pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport, speaks on the importance of retiring two of Chicago's dirty coal plants: Fisk and Crawford

Supporters of the Clean Power Coalition delivered an eight-foot tall board to Mayor Emmanuel’s office displaying over 800 Chicagoans demanding their right to breathe cleaner air.  Local community justice members, parents, environmentalists and public health experts urged the Mayor to set retirement dates for Chicago’s two dirtiest coal plants,

Fisk and Crawford, by the end of 2011.

Fisk and Crawford are two of the dirtiest coal plants in the country located in a dense urban area. Studies have shown that these two coal plants are linked to asthma attacks among children, heart attacks, hospitalizations and early deaths. Chicago Clean Power Coalition members, including Sierra Club, have been mobilizing in their communities to shutter the pollution from both Fisk and Crawford and to fight for clean air solutions.

During the petition delivery event, Rev. Thomas R. Gaulke, Pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport and representatives from P.E.R.R.O. and Pilsen Alliance spoke on behalf of the community, urging Mayor Emanuel to announce retirement dates a top priority of his administration.

Clean Power Coalition supporters and organizers continue to bring light to a pollution crisis that results in 45,000 tons of pollution a year and in an eight year span has cost Chicagoans more than $1 billion in health care and environmental costs.  Join us and our community partners in moving Chicago beyond coal.

Take a trip . . . to Middle Earth!

Haven’t had a chance to take that summer vacation yet?  Don’t worry – Sierra Club has you covered!

Join us for our Annual Fundraiser at Ravinia on August 19th and we will sweep you away to an entirely different world!

This year’s event features a screening of the film The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring, with a live performance of the movie score by the world renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Largely shot on location in New Zealand, the film makes use of that country’s unique natural features to bring J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth to life.  Tolkein’s story has been interpreted as a commentary on the destruction caused to the natural environment by industrialization.  Hear what other like-minded Sierra Club members have to say over a delicious dinner and drinks prior to the movie, and then find out for yourself as the CSO and Ravinia take you on a trip you’ll never forget!

Tickets are $75 per person.  Reserve your spot today!

What: Annual Sierra Club Fundraiser at Ravinia
Where: Ravinia Festival Park, 200 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park IL
When: August 19th, Dinner and Drinks at 6:00pm, movie screening begins at 7:30pm

All proceeds will benefit the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter PAC.

Join us for Party on the Farm!

Do you need a break from the hustle and bustle of the city, or do you long to spend some time outdoors now that Spring is finally upon us?  If so, we welcome you to join Sierra Club members Connie and Michael Schmidt at their Twin Star Ranch for Party on the Farm! – an event to benefit the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter PAC.

The money raised from this event will be used to elect pro-environment candidates that reflect Sierra Club’s commitment to clean air, clean water, and preserving our state’s unique natural places.  We have a busy year ahead of us in Springfield, and need to muster as much support as we can if we want to see our legislation land on Gov. Quinn’s desk.

Between musical performances from The Almost Brothers Band and song writer and acoustic guitarist Michael Schmidt, and the horses, chickens, bunnies and dogs that Connie has graciously agreed to allow her guests with visit with, this event is sure to please the whole family.  Soft drinks will be provided, but guests are invited to bring additional refreshments and a dish to share.

You can RSVP for this event here.

Event Details
What: Party on the Farm!
Where: Twin Star Ranch, 3 S. 501 Landon Dr., Warrenville, IL
When: Sunday, May 22nd 2011 2pm – 7pm
Cost: $15 for one adult, $25 for two adults, children are free

We hope to see you there!