Chicago Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy

09/03/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc108ozycKG/?igsi=dGI4dGJyOG53aWo3

09/03/2026

The City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on Tuesday approved an ordinance to include data centers in the city’s energy benchmarking program for large buildings.

08/28/2026

https://www.thedailyline.com/chicago-city-council-committee-environmental-protection-energy-preview-september-2026-data-centers-added-benchmarking-program-reporting-alderwoman-maria-hadden

The City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on Tuesday will consider an ordinance that would remove an exemption in city code that excludes data centers from the city’s program that intakes and reports on large buildings’ energy use.

08/27/2026

During today’s UFAB full board meeting, ArborPro presented updates on their work to get full inventory of our tree canopy!

ArborPro Inc is a third-party company that uses software to track a tree’s location, health status and benefits. They note purposely planted trees, vacancies, and tree species. So far 10% of the city has been documented, ArborPro travels district by district. We are on our way to having a plethora of data about how we can improve our tree canopy for every resident, regardless of zip code!
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Durante la reunión de hoy de la junta directiva de la UFAB, ArborPro ha presentado las últimas novedades sobre su trabajo para realizar un inventario completo de nuestra cubierta arbórea.

ArborPro Inc es una empresa externa que utiliza un software para registrar la ubicación, el estado de salud y los beneficios de los árboles. Registra los árboles plantados a propósito, los espacios vacíos y las especies arbóreas. Hasta ahora se ha documentado el 10 % de la ciudad; ArborPro recorre los barrios uno por uno. ¡Estamos en camino de disponer de una gran cantidad de datos sobre cómo podemos mejorar nuestra cubierta arbórea para todos los residentes, independientemente de su código postal!

08/27/2026

Next Week: Join us for our first Subject Matter Hearing of September! Tune in virtually at chicityclerk.com or meet us in Council Chambers.
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La próxima semana: ¡Acompáñenos en nuestra primera audiencia temática de septiembre! Conéctese virtualmente en chicityclerk.com o reúnase con nosotros en la sala de sesiones del Concejo.

08/27/2026

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26082026/chicago-extreme-heat-medical-emergencies/

New research finds a wide range of medical emergencies spiked during heat waves in recent years.

08/26/2026

Our city needs heat protections, now more than ever.

July was the hottest month on record in the United States, with three heat domes — slow-moving, high-pressure systems that trap heat and humidity in place — afflicting large swaths of the country.

08/11/2026

Check out some of the main takeaways from the recent study that assessed the correlation between Chicago's Urban Canopy and morality rates. Through uniquely looking at year-to-year changes in canopy, death rates, and summer temperatures over an 11-year period in Chicago, researchers put together an analysis that indicated the importance of planting new trees in hotter neighborhoods alongside Chicago's current canopy. Visit bit.ly/urbantreeschi to read the study for free!
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Descubre algunas de las conclusiones clave de un estudio reciente que analizó la relación entre la cobertura arbórea urbana de Chicago y las tasas de mortalidad. Al examinar específicamente las variaciones anuales en la cobertura arbórea, las tasas de mortalidad y las temperaturas estivales en Chicago a lo largo de un periodo de 11 años, los investigadores elaboraron un análisis que destaca la importancia de plantar nuevos árboles en los barrios más cálidos, complementando así la cobertura arbórea actual de la ciudad. ¡Visita bit.ly/urbantreeschi para leer el estudio de forma gratuita!

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/08-2/as-urban-tree-shade-shrinks-mortality-rises?fj=1

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GH001651

Study tracked association between death rates and tree canopy changes across 11 years in Chicago.

08/07/2026

Today we had our Inaugural 49th Ward Tree Walk! Thank you to all the residents who signed up, and to .dot foresters Jeff Brink and Alli Preble for guiding us through tree identification for Greenview Ave’s wonderfully diverse tree canopy! Can’t wait to do this again in the winter season 🥶🌲💚
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¡Hoy tuvimos nuestra Inaugural 49th Ward Tree Walk! ¡Gracias a todos los residentes que se inscribieron, y a los silvicultores de .dot Jeff Brink y Alli Preble por guiarnos a través de la identificación de árboles para el maravilloso y diverso dosel de árboles de Greenview Ave! No puedo esperar a hacer esto de nuevo en la temporada de invierno 🥶🌲💚

08/07/2026

In July, I introduced an ordinance to City Council that would require data centers to report their energy and water use under Chicago's benchmarking ordinance. They are not required to do so as the municipal code is written today. I plan to move the ordinance in the next Chicago Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy scheduled for September 1.

This ordinance is the first critical step to better position our city to regulate data centers. I will continue to work closely with the Department of Environment and my colleagues to implement the other recommendations outlined in the Sustainable Data Centers report.

A report from the working group tasked with reviewing data center regulation in Chicago doesn’t specifically address concerns around the largest “hyperscale” data centers, such as one pitched for the South Side.