Greening Chicago’s Restaurants

Chicago has long been known for its great restaurants, wide variety of cuisines and local favorites. More recently the city has earned a reputation for being one of the greenest cities in America. The time is ripe for Chicago restaurants to “go green.” Chicago’s restaurant industry has untapped potential for greener practices and policies that can have a significant impact on this business sector’s impacts on the environment. With its Green Restaurants Program, the Environmental Law & Policy Center is working to help restaurants “green” their practices to create a healthier environment for staff and patrons.

To learn the ways you can green your restaurant, visit ELPC’s GreenRestaurants.org site.

Promoting Green Architecture

The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health and productivity. Breakthroughs in building science, technology and operations are available to designers, builders and owners who want to build green and maximize both economic and environmental performance.

Doing energy efficiency “right” at the new construction and major rehab stage is by far the most cost-effective time to make these pro-environmental and energy cost reduction investments. This is the single most important policy step that a state can take to increase energy efficiency in buildings and reduce pollution through avoided electric power and natural gas use.

ELPC waged a two-year public advocacy campaign for an energy efficiency building code in Illinois that came to fruition in 2004. The Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Energy Efficient Commercial Building Act, HB 4099 requires all new construction or substantial rehab of existing buildings to meet energy efficiency standards established by the International Energy Conservation Code. It covers all commercial, industrial and multi-unit residential properties, but does not cover single-family home construction.

ELPC’s own eco-office is a case study of how environmental protection and economic development go hand-in-hand.

Learn more about the benefits of building green.

Bringing Clean Cars to Illinois

Illinois and other Midwest states are moving to adopt tough new standards to reduce pollution, benefiting the region’s health and reducing global warming pollution-while also improving the area’s economy. Illinois has the opportunity to lead the Midwest in ensuring all new passenger cars and light-duty trucks will emit lower levels of global warming and other air pollutants while improving public health, and saving Illinois consumers money at the pump. ELPC is part of a coalition of groups fighting to win adoption of standards requiring auto manufacturers to build cleaner cars.

Joe Shacter is taking a lead role in ELPC’s work on clean cars. “The clean car initiative is very simple,” Joe says. “It is the question of Illinois adopting California’s vehicle emission standards. States can either adopt the California program or stick with the federal standards. California’s program is significantly more strict, and has been adopted by over 40 percent of the new car market.” The clean car program would regulate many types of pollution, but it is the first that would regulate the carbon dioxide from vehicles that causes global warming pollution.

Learn more about CleanCarsIllinois in this brief video interview with Joe:

Improving the Environment and Promoting Economic Growth

At the Environmental Law & Policy Center, we are helping to build growing markets for recycled paper, environmentally preferable building products and products that combat global warming. ELPC finds solutions that demonstrate how environmental preservation and economic development can be achieved together. In doing so, we continue to work with our colleagues around the Midwest to preserve our ecological treasures for future generations. We are public interest entrepreneurs who engage in creative business deal-making that puts into practice our belief that environmental progress and economic development can be achieved together.