It was raining – great for the new rain garden, but not so great for a community gardening day. Would anyone come? Hopeful, we set up the tents and laid out the sandwiches, and parents and youth started arriving a little after noon.   "We were so thrilled that families and volunteers showed up, despite the morning rain! It was truly a great opportunity to bond with the community organizations that supported these efforts and the tenants and community members that will... Read the rest of this entry »

On May 7th, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a decision to delay a decision on a permit that would allow General Iron to move to Chicago’s Southeast side, a predominantly Latinx and Black community, until further environmental analysis can be completed by the Chicago Department of Public Health. Environmental justice advocates, who engaged in a month-long hunger strike to stop General Iron’s relocation, are asking for a full denial of the permit. General Iron, a scrap metal shredder... Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Day 12 of a hunger strike led by activists on Chicago’s Southeast side to call attention to the relocation of a major industrial polluter to their community. General Iron, a scrap metal shredder that was repeatedly fined for environmental violations in its former home in Lincoln Park, is awaiting a final permit from the Chicago Department of Public Health to allow it to move its operations to the Southeast side. CNT strongly supports the campaign to stop General Iron, and we urge the... Read the rest of this entry »

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted communities around the world. However, Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color have been disproportionately impacted due to existing social, environmental, and economic factors that make individuals more likely to have worsened COVID-19 outcomes.  The Link between Land Use, Air, and COVID-19 Racialized land use and lending practices, such as redlining, have disproportionately located heavy industrial development near Black and... Read the rest of this entry »

You may not know it, but CNT has a small San Francisco outpost. As I sat on conference calls discussing how to make housing more resilient to climate change and the greenhouse gas benefits of transit in communities last week it all felt extra urgent, because the sky outside my window looked like this: Wildfire smoke from up and down the west coast has been affecting San Francisco for weeks, but when it combined with our fog to blot out the sun and cast an eerie orange glow so dark that... Read the rest of this entry »

When Overton Elementary School, located in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood, was closed in 2013, the future use of the campus was unknown. Many of the 43 schools that were shuttered in 2013 are still vacant today despite early promises that the school campuses would be transformed into community amenities. Overton was purchased by Washington Park Development Group, helmed by Ghian Foreman in 2015, and he has worked in partnership with Borderless Studio, founded and managed... Read the rest of this entry »

Black lives matter. Structural racism has enabled law enforcement to use incarceration and lethal violence upon Black men, women, and children, over-and-over, for centuries. These are people with names and families and stories. The current protests give voice to the suffering and righteous anger of Black communities across the nation. We humbly stand in solidarity and allyship with this movement. We will continue our internal journey of pursuing racial equity and justice through our work as... Read the rest of this entry »

During disasters, we focus on crisis management: treating the sick and providing the basic services we need to survive. Right now, we need support for the frontline public health workers and emergency service providers who are dealing with this crisis firsthand, and economic assistance for the retail and hospitality and service workers who have lost their jobs. We applaud the foundations and individuals who are giving generously to these necessary causes. I am not the first person to note... Read the rest of this entry »

As summers grow hotter and rainstorms increase in frequency and severity, it’s more important than ever to promote and invest in solutions that improve local climate resilience. However, governmental solutions often value pipes over natural permeability and engineering over community engagement. And, where nature-based stormwater solutions are installed, many residents are at risk of displacement due to increasing property values. While there’s no quick fix to this challenge, CNT, through... Read the rest of this entry »

This has been a wet summer. Thunderstorms, hail, and flash flooding have all hit Chicagoland lately. The Chicago Tribune recently reported that over the past decade, only coastal cities with hurricanes have received more federal aid for flooding. And according to the Third National Climate Assessment, heavy, sudden storms – the kind most likely to overwhelm our local sewers and create flooding – are predicted to worsen as a result of climate change. Flooding has severe impacts on health and... Read the rest of this entry »