For a long time, protecting the environment was something Democrats and Republicans agreed upon. In the present age, the Trump administration has moved to dismantle many of those foundational protections — including an attempt to revoke the legal underpinning for all federal greenhouse gas regulation. Meanwhile, here in Illinois, Democratic leaders are pursuing their own clean energy policies — and fighting the federal government in court to do it. 

This week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is traveling to Illinois to visit clean energy sites. It comes a day after President Joe Biden signed an executive order to continue pushing America toward cleaner and more sustainable energy. She joined The 21st to talk about the executive order, the recently-passed infrastructure bill, electric vehicles, and more. 

A group gathered on the University of Illinois Urbana campus Friday to call for action to combat climate change. “Climate Strike Two” was a follow-up to the Climate Strike event held on the U of I campus September 20. That event was part of a student-led global protest calling for greater efforts to address climate change, and drew more than 1,000 people from the campus and community, according to a News-Gazette estimate.

On The 21st: A look at clean-energy companies operating in Illinois. Plus, we revisit the killing of Vincent Chin 35 years later. Also: locally sourced holiday gift ideas and breaking Illinois turtle news. 

Exelon still has hopes for the legislation, once lawmakers are done dealing with the state budget. And whether or not it passes could have in impact on the price of electricity in Illinois, and the fate of its three nuclear plants in Clinton, Byron and Quad Cities, which are losing money.